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Last time on LGG:
"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.
~*~*~*~ (No one understood the snakes, and I think this is prettier; new page breaker!)
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CHAPTER SIX: Famished Felines and Lucky Lox
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Draco, upon noting the absence of the winery dwellers, looked to Eglamour briefly, then shrugged and breezed through the common room and out the portrait. He, of course, said nothing as he made his way to the great hall. Eglamour wasn't exactly a good conversationalist. A good listener, yes, but not the one to turn to for intellectual stimulation.
This early in the day, the halls were nearly deserted. It was mostly female Ravenclaw and Gryffindor of younger years which were roaming about and reading as they hurried past him. Draco paid hardly any attention to the girls, but he did notice a few watch him for a moment before quickly turning their eyes away. Whether it was because of his stunning good looks... or the fact that he had a small black kitten sitting proudly on his shoulder, Draco didn't know, but he didn't particularly care. He wasn't interested in any of these girls; in his eyes, they were all the enemy. Each and every one of them had betrayed him... even those who didn't know who he was were on the opposing team. There was Draco and Hermione in black, and the rest of the world in white. Defying the rules of regulation wizard's chess... the black pieces will make the first move. Draco smiled to himself and thrust open the mess hall doors with some force, his speed never slowing.
Inside the hall, the four freshly shined tables were sparsely occupied. The Slytherin table held one first year, which had an open text book in front of him, but was asleep on his arm and drooling into his half eaten cranberry muffin. There was a group of three boys and two girls at the Ravenclaw table, comparing schedules and talking about their classes, but the Hufflepuff table was completely empty. Gryffindor was the most occupied. The infamous double-crossing duo was no where to be seen, but the younger sister of the more aggressive sat with a disgusted look about her, speaking to Finnegan, Longbottom, and Brown, who also looked quite untaken by the conversation. At the other end of the table, six first years were watching as the great Dean Tomas transfigured their quills into various breakfast pleasantries. This category also seems to include large mice.
Shaking his head, Draco made his way to the Slytherin table, sitting in his usual seat, which was conveniently quite far from the muffin boy. Before even thinking about his breakfast, Draco poured a large glass of pumpkin juice, and then proceeded to empty a shallow sugar bowl into the remaining portion found in the pitcher. Placing the now emptied sugar bowl on an empty expanse of the table, the Slytherin prefect poured a little pool of milk into his slapdash cat-dish and directed a warming spell, making the breakfast nice and toasty for his new friend.
Eglamour mewed happily and jumped from his shoulder and onto the table, sitting and beginning to lap up the milk. Draco smiled at the kitten, then looked about the table for something to feed himself. He placed three small bagels and lox on his plate, and peeled off the fishy layer, feeding it to Eglamour and distracting him long enough to allow Draco to refill the milk dish.
The breakfast commenced in silence, with the exception of the quite noisy lapping and licking of Eglamour. The new little supporter of the green and silver eventually ventured farther down the table, bothering almost every of the new Slytherin arrivals. In the end, Hermione's little black kitten had eaten the lox from four more bagels (which Draco did not finish off, as he did the first three), three saucers of warm milk, and a fried egg which was stolen from one of the students who had recently come down. The larceny went unnoticed by the girl, who was talking animatedly with Pansy Parkinson. Parkinson also had come for the first breakfast of the school year.
As Eglamour eventually returned to Draco's side and began to lick at the small amount of milk left in his saucer, the Slytherin prefect smiled.
"Ready to go back upstairs?" he asked and ran a hand down the cat's back. Eglamour arched at the touch and purred loudly, forgetting about the tiny drop of milk still left in his bowl. Draco then scratched the kitten's haunches, earning more purring, and finally bent down and placed a small kiss behind his new friend's ear.
"Aw, Ron, look! Drakey-kins is finally getting some; how sweet! Oh, and she's a real looker, too," said the annoyingly familiar and mocking voice of the one and only Hogwarts Head Boy. Draco almost got angry, but remembered his plans of revenge and stopped himself, smirking instead. He spun and stood, standing stiff and looking down at them.
"Good morning, gentlemen; what can I do you for?" he asked politely, gaining a sneer from Ron and an eye roll from Harry. Eglamour, who had totally forgotten about the remains of his breakfast, hopped off the table on to a nearby stool, then down to the floor, curiously approaching the two new beings.
"Cut the crap, Malfoy. Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, sounding rather annoyed and looking straight at the fellow officer he was addressing. Draco, however, was keeping a watchful eye over Eglamour, who was sniffing around Ron's feet and walking between his legs, much to the red-heads displeasure. As the kitten placed a gentle paw on Ron's ankle and lifted his head under the Gryffindor robes, Ron had had enough and angrily kicked the cat away. Draco's eyes widened as he watched his only male friend, with the exception of Sebastian, slide across the polished hardwood floor, unhurt but still violated. The Slytherin almost lashed out at his enemy for the mistreatment, but caught himself just in time and smirked.
"I don't know, why don't you ask her?" Draco replied to Harry's question and pointed to the small black kitten, which, as Harry and Ron watched, rolled over and stood, briefly displaying his assets.
"Malfoy, I hate to sound like I care, but have you gone mad? That is not Hermione," Ron said, shaking his head and Harry nodded.
"Most definitely not; that is a grubby rodent who is poorly attempting to pass itself off as a cat. And a male cat as well, if I'm not mistaken," he added. Draco shrugged; they had set themselves up perfectly.
"I wouldn't know; I didn't look... thought she wouldn't appreciate it much," he said indifferently, then snapped his fingers and patted his shoulder twice, signaling for Eglamour to join him once again. The cat did as he was asked, scrambling up Draco's back. When he was perched, Eglamour hissed at the two Gryffindor in his direct line of vision. Draco faked a wince. "And it doesn't seem she enjoyed you doing it either."
"There is no way that that is Hermione, Malfoy. Why don't you just stop being, well... you, and tell us where she is, hm? Hermione has had only one documented feline fortification, and when it happened she looked nothing like THAT," Harry said, pointing, and Draco rolled his eyes.
"If I must and it will get you to leave me alone, I'll tell you what happened. As we walked down to breakfast, some random person whom I didn't recognize hit our dear Gryffindor prefect here with a hex. I did hear said hex, however, and I know that it is only temporary. She will be herself again in a few hours," he said, sounding as if the explanation was exhausting and boring as hell. Harry and Ron dropped their mouths, glaring as they watched 'Hermione' affectionately wrap her tail around Draco's neck. He smirked as he saw the fire burn in Harry's eyes. Harry was starting to wonder if maybe Draco was telling the truth. That was a pretty well told story to have just been made up... and he couldn't risk not believing him. What would Hermione say tomorrow about his viewing of her temporary tin-soldier? Then, the raven-haired Head Boy took a small step forward, earning another hiss from the kitten perched on his enemy's shoulder.
"Hermione? I'm sorry... I didn't know it was you or I never would have... uh, yeah... I'm really sorry," Harry apologized, making it very hard for Draco to suppress his laughter.
"Yeah, me too, Mione. I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm sorry," Ron agreed and another urge to burst into hysterics hit Draco hard. He almost did lose his composure, but he had a job to do, and Malfoys were prided for self- control. He himself was no exception. Eglamour had no idea what these two people were saying, of course, but he knew they weren't to be trusted. First impressions mean a lot to cats.
"Well, Granger; do you forgive them?" Draco asked, turning toward Eglamour slightly. Ron stepped forward to be as close as Harry, which caused the tiny cat to suddenly seem very ferocious and intimidating despite his size, and hiss fiercely, causing them to jump back, faces dotted with spittle. Draco faked another wince. "If I were to guess, I'd say that's a no. Evidently, Granger didn't particularly like your taking advantage of her peek-show." At the distancing between himself and his two new enemies, Eglamour calmed down a bit and rubbed his head lovingly against Draco's. The Slytherin smirked smugly as he saw the looks on the faces of the Gryffindor. "Well, as I certainly don't wish to speak with or be in the presence of you two any longer, and my dorm-mate here can't speak to you, although I doubt she would if she could, I suppose we'll be heading upstairs. Wouldn't want the poor thing getting locked out of the common room, would we? And by the way Potter, I changed the password, so don't go trying to barge in or anything," he said passively and started to move, but Harry stopped him.
"How? You can't change the password without Head Boy or Girl verification," he said, attempting to catch Malfoy in a lie or red handed in something illegal, but Draco was too smooth for that.
"You can if you know how to teach a two hundred year old portrait of a cat how to play a song on a ukulele he's never heard before. We Malfoys are sweet-talkers," he said, winked, then turned and walked quickly from the hall, holding a hand to Eglamour to keep him on his shoulder. As they watched their enemy leave with their 'best friend' on his shoulder, Harry and Ron turned to each other with open mouths.
"If that really was Hermione, that means Malfoy kissed her... and she did that weird cat rubbing thing to him," Harry said and Ron nodded.
"And why was she trying to look up my robes?"
~*~*~*~
Draco took Eglamour in his arms as he exited the great hall, to keep him safe as he ran back to the common room. He stopped outside the portrait of the banjo playing feline and burst out laughing, unable to hold it in anymore. He set Eglamour gently on the ground, and the small kitten looked up at him with amused eyes, curious as to why his friend was so taken. When Draco finally felt ready to face Hermione again, he smoothed his hair and rubbed a tear from his eye, then shook his head and turned to address Cronan.
"Opale pallido," he said and the winged cat opened the door, never pausing in his gentle lullaby which came forth from the banjo. "You first, my friend," Draco said, gesturing for Eglamour to enter the room, which he did without hesitation. The little cat walked slowly for a while, then turned and bolted for the sofa circle, jumping up and into the lap of a person who was lying there, generating a moan. Curious, Draco followed, smiling as he saw what made Eglamour so excited. "Hey," he said and Hermione opened her eyes.
"Hey," she replied weakly. The slightly sick looking girl was lying on one of the couches, back against the seat cushions and eyes glued to the ceiling. Eglamour had jumped onto her stomach, which she had her hands held over, but moved to the back of the couch when he heard her discomfort. Hermione's knees were drawn up, and she looked almost as if she were in pain. Draco was about to ask what was wrong, but stalled when he noticed a small white box on the floor near the couch. Curious, he approached her and knelt down, picking up the box. Hermione said nothing and kept her eyes on the ceiling. Then, Draco laughed.
"Where did you get this?" he asked amusedly and Hermione swallowed.
"Brought it with me; bought it in Diagon Alley when I got my supplies," she said, not in the mood to argue. Draco held a big smile on his face.
"Did you eat the whole thing?" he asked in wonder and curiosity shaking the container and Hermione paused a moment before nodding. He laughed again. On the white box was a glossy red label which read 'Auntie Em's Famous Fudge; guaranteed never to harden. NET WT: 2.63 lb.' Upon opening this container of a tiny slice of heaven, Draco found only a few crumbs to suggest the mouth watering confection had ever existed. He'd had Auntie Em's before; it was amazing.
"Draco, am I going to die?" Hermione asked, sounding almost as if she really thought it possible. Draco laughed again.
"Maybe, but it's more probable that you'll just throw up. I know how good this stuff is, Hermione, but two and a half pounds? How did you even get that all down?"
"Well, I didn't eat dinner last night, or lunch... actually I don't even think I ate breakfast..." she said, then moaned, "Oh god, no more talking of food... or I may possibly be giving Auntie Em a refund." Draco laughed and stood, seating himself on the only vacant cushion and crossing his arms over her knees, chin on his hands.
"Speaking of breakfast, you should have been there... actually, you shouldn't have or you would have ruined my joke, but regardless, you'll love what happened." Hermione groaned again at the reoccurring thought of breakfast and clutched her stomach. Draco smirked at her discomfort and looked quickly to Eglamour, who was sleeping again and didn't look back. "Food wise, it was amazing... there was toast and muffins..." She moaned again, which only caused Draco to smirk more. "And lox and bagels; do you like lox? I don't particularly, but Eglamour does... and eggs, too. He stole Millicent Bulstrode's and she didn't even notice..."
"Draco, I said STOP talking about food, not START talking about food..." Hermione said, sounding to be in agony, but this didn't hinder Draco's spirit.
"I know, I heard you... anyway; I poured the entire bowl of sugar into the pumpkin juice, right? Then Marcus Flint comes and pours himself a glass... it was hilarious; he spit it out all over Blaise Zambini, including in her porridge. So she gave up on it and just ate toast... it was funny though, Flint made sure to carefully taste everything before he ate it. Hey, which do you like better, cranberry jam or gooseberry marmalade? Personally I think pumpkin butter solves any choice making problems. That stuff is wicked."
"Malfoy, you are honestly the cruelest person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting in my entire life. Bastard," Hermione said closing her eyes and turning her face into the back of the couch.
"Yeah, I could have told you that... okay, okay, I'm sorry. Can I tell you what happened now? No food, I promise, and you'll love it," he asked pleadingly and Hermione opened her eyes again, looking skeptically at him. Draco put on the most innocent face possible and batted his eye lashes, which caused her to laugh, then moan once more.
"If it'll keep my mind of my insane attempts at suicide through over- consumption of an exceptionally good block of fudge," she agreed, but Draco's smile faltered a bit.
"Is that really what you were trying to do?" he asked, sounding almost worried, and Hermione blinked.
"No, of course not... that would have been stupid. I was just hungry," she assured him. "Hey, don't worry. If I were planning something like that, I'd tell you first," Hermione told him with a smile, and Draco smiled back, but he wasn't quite sure if she was serious. Something in him hoped against all hope that she would never need to have such a conversation with him. "So, what's this amazing occurrence I just HAVE to know about?" Draco smiled again and moved his hands from beneath his chin, letting them slide down the tops of Hermione's bare thighs and back up a few times. She, unlike before, was wearing a very short pair of black shorts with a t-shirt much like the one she had worn on the train, minus the ripping and band logo.
"Potter and Weasley think you're Eglamour," he said simply and Hermione, who had been watching his hands and analyzing the feelings she was receiving form his gentle touch, looked up at him, confused and surprised.
"What?"
"I assumed, judging by the approximate age of Eglamour and the sparse knowledge I have in regards to a timeline of when you fell out of contact with the prat pack, that your little friends didn't know about your cat. So, when they angrily came and asked where you were, I told them you were randomly hexed and that he was you. Now, this would be slightly humorous, but I've left out what happened before I told them this. Firstly, remember that Weasley kicked you across the floor," Draco said and Hermione interrupted.
"He what? What an asshole... are you alright, baby?" she asked Eglamour sweetly, shifting to her side and pulling him down beside her, allowing herself to comfort the poor thing.
"He's alright, or I would have kicked Weasel's arse... but that's nothing compared to what Potter did." Hermione clutched Eglamour tightly.
"What did he do?" she asked worriedly, bringing the now awake and silently complying kitten close to her face, covering him with kisses. Draco smiled.
"Nothing harmful," he said, reaching a hand to lightly scratch the victim's back. "But, considering he thinks that it was you and not some cat, it's priceless."
"Tell me already," she ordered with a smile, letting Eglamour settle down and petting him contentedly.
"He saw your... wand," Draco said, smirking. "Or, Eglamour's rather." Hermione looked confused.
"But Eglamour's a cat, he doesn't have a.... oh..." she said, realization hitting her when Draco raised his eyebrows. Then, she giggled, but it wasn't the Smile-Bright Home Facial giggles, these were regular, dark and morbid Granger giggles. More of an evil laugh than a giggle, really. "And they think it was me? Oh, this IS priceless." Draco smiled smugly.
"I told you. And Eglamour played the part perfectly... I really don't know how Potter noticed, though; it's so damn tiny," he teased with a smile and rubbed a finger along the groove behind Eglamour's ear. Hermione smirked.
"He's just a baby, Draco. You pop out with an eighteen inch iguana, people are going to start talking." Draco smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Ah, the ignorance of virgins," he said blissfully and Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"Who says?" she asked and he looked at her, slightly surprised. Hermione blushed a bit and turned her eyes to Eglamour once more. "Who cares?" Draco laughed.
"Anyway, in order for this to work, next time you see your little posse, pretend that it really WAS you. It's not much, but it'll give us a start... and a more obvious reason to be angry with them... plus, because Eggy doesn't hate me... and they think he's you, it gives them another reason to despise me," Draco said. "It's perfect." Hermione chuckled slightly.
"Eggy... that's... different," she said, smiling lovingly at the small black kitten in her arms. Draco shrugged.
"Eglamour, although I agree with you on the liking it thing, is a very long name."
"Hermione is longer," Hermione pointed out. Draco shrugged.
"Fine, I'll call him Eglamour, and I'll call you Eggy," he suggested, then smirked. Hermione smiled in a flattered way, feeling much better than she had when she was alone.
"Good luck on me answering you," she warned and Draco shrugged.
"My father always says that a silent woman is the best woman," he told her and Hermione frowned at the degrading of females.
"And do you agree?" she asked seriously, causing Draco to look at her. He seemed unsure and contemplated his answer for a moment.
"No, I don't think so. That's got to be pretty boring, you know? I mean, if you have to be married to someone, wouldn't you want them to be interesting? And it would waste that aspect of their personality by not speaking with them. Like, take my father for example. Mother does not speak in his presence, unless asked a question or in the greeting of other people, he only speaks orders to house elves, and only speaks insults, criticism, and what he idiotically calls wisdom to me. He's got no one close to him; no one to talk to. I don't think I could live like that," Draco said, sounding quite honest and truthful. Hermione stared at him with a sweet smile on her face and Draco smiled sheepishly. "And I have no idea why I told you that; that was incredibly weird; I don't tell anyone stuff like that." Hermione put the hand not trapped below Eglamour over Draco's, which still rested mid thigh.
"Hey, you can trust me. I'm glad to hear you say that, really. I get a whole new view of you when you speak so openly; it's nice."
"Yeah," Draco said, smiling. "I liked it too."
"So, who do you talk to?"
"Hm?" Hermione smiled.
"You said that your father has no one to talk to, and that you couldn't live like that, suggesting that you have someone to fill that role. I asked who," she explained and he smiled.
"Mum talks to me. When I realized it was stupid for her to not be able to say what she wants to, I told her so. It took a while, but she got used to being able to speak freely around me, and it's made her happier, I think. She's really an amazing person... and I talk to the house elves sometimes; if I have a problem I can't talk to Mum about or if I simply feel like talking and one happens to be there... and I KNOW that makes them happier. I listen to them, too... it's rather cute, really, and their problems seem so insignificant to me... like they cooked twenty potatoes instead of twenty ONE like my father asked." He chuckled. "As if he's going to count them..." Hermione smiled.
"Strange; I never placed you in the 'speaks openly to lower class members' category, but hey... it's not so preposterous. If I had house elves, I'd probably talk to them all the time..." Draco raised his eyebrows.
"You mean you don't?"
"No, of course not. I'm Mudblood Granger, remember? Muggles don't have house elves, especially if they live in muggle neighborhoods, such as myself and my parents," Hermione reminded him and Draco tilted his head in a sort of nod.
"I suppose that makes sense... so do you have servants or something? Who does all the stuff the house elves are supposed to do?"
"No, it would be stupid to have servants in our house; it's probably like one one-thousandth the size of yours...we just do everything ourselves... it's not like it's really hard, I mean... it's just cooking for crying out loud," Hermione said, sounding a bit uneasy at the mention of cooking, and placed her hand back on her stomach.
"I've never cooked anything in my life; nor seen anything cooked, actually," Draco said, shaking his head. "I think I'm a tad bit jealous."
"How very honest of you," Hermione said, actually slightly surprised. Draco nodded.
"I know; weird, huh?"
"Hey, don't worry. Maybe I could teach you sometime? It's not hard, I swear," she suggested and Draco looked at her, eyes backlit with suppressed excitement.
"Really?" Hermione smiled sweetly.
"Sure... ugh, but not right now... the smell of anything cooking could cause terrible, terrible things to happen to me at this moment in time," she warned and Draco smiled, then kissed her bare knee.
"You know, if I wanted to be REALLY mean right now, I could tickle you or something," he threatened and Hermione's eyes grew slightly wide.
"Oh god, please, don't...uh, you might um... hurt Eglamour! Oh, poor baby," she said, ruffling the tiny kitten's fur and kissing him. "Hasn't he had enough torment for one day?"
"Yes, yes, wouldn't want to hurt Eggy... and I wouldn't do that anyway... I'm not THAT much of a bastard."
"Some people would beg to differ," Hermione said with a smirk and Draco matched it.
"Don't push your luck, Granger," he warned and she smiled. "Hey, do you hear that?" Draco then asked, crinkling his brow. Hermione let go of Eglamour and propped herself up a bit, listening.
"I don't..."
"Shh," he said gently and Hermione listened hard.
"Mandy, just GO; I'm STARVING!" called a voice in what was supposed to be a whisper and both heads turned to the darkened doorway which led downstairs.
"Morag, will you please SHUT UP! Do you want them to hear you? They're still out there!" called a second voice and Hermione turned to Draco, who was smirking.
"I don't care if Voldemort is out there, I'm hungry and I'm going to breakfast! If you're too chicken, then move and let me through!"
"Didn't you already prove your immense stupidity last night? Do you really want to do that again?"
"If I could do it then, I can do it now. And now I actually have a reason!" Loud footsteps were heard marching up the stairs and Hermione laid back down while Draco smirked wider and rested his head on her knee, again rubbing her legs with his hands. In seconds, Morag emerged from the door way and stomped across the common room toward the portrait hole. Draco raised his eyebrows at Hermione, silently asking 'Are you just going to let him leave like that?' She smirked and called after him.
"What, not even a good morning? That's not very nice now is it? Good morning Hermione. Good morning Draco. Good morning Morag... was that so hard? I'm hurt, really," she said, mocking pain in her voice. Morag, being the king of blurtation, couldn't help but let another idiotic comment slip.
"Oh, shove it up your arse, Granger," he said icily, then his face contorted in a painful wince before he simply paled and turned his eyes to Draco attentively. "Oh shit," he mumbled. Draco could actually hear Mandy in the stairway banging her head into the wall. He looked down at Hermione, who raised her eyebrows and shrugged, her look saying 'I'll let you handle this one.'
"My, my, my MacDougal... I believe that was a bit uncalled for. I suggest you apologize to the lady immediately." Hermione smiled at Draco as if he was a knight in shining armor, saving her from the terrible fire-breathing dragon and he smiled back in a silent 'you're welcome.'
"Bite me, Malfoy. I'm not afraid of you." A loud and devastating moan was heard from the downward staircase, followed by louder banging. Again, Draco looked to Hermione.
"Go ahead, you know you want to," she whispered and Draco smirked, kissed her knee once more, then stood, making his way slowly toward the Hufflepuff prefect.
"Oh you're not now, are you? Well, that's good, because we wouldn't want that. Tension in the common room causes tension in the classroom... and as prefects we are respected throughout the student body." Hermione snickered, but Draco continued. "So tell me... Moooraag," he said, stretching out the name. "What ARE you afraid of?" Draco began to walk circles around the obviously scared boy. Morag stood stiff and straight, eyes watching every step Draco took, face pale and beaded with sweat. "Oh, come now," Draco said when he didn't answer. "Everybody's afraid of something... I happen to know that Potter is afraid of dementors, Weasley is afraid of spiders... Hermione is afraid of my father, and I am afraid of drowning, having no one to talk to, and the crucias curse. What are YOU afraid of?" Morag swallowed nervously and the banging from the doorway stopped momentarily.
"Pregnant women," he said quietly, but the silence was so complete that everyone could hear him loud and clear.
A/N: Yes, I know, stupid and boring, but hey, I tried. I personally thought that whole Hermione is Eglamour thing was cute... and pretty funny, lol, really.
PRF:
Tainted Black: I changed the separators; no worries! And yes, Eglamour is scrumptious! His name doesn't mean anything to me, it's just that I liked it when I read that play (Two Gentlemen of Verona - Shakespeare) so I wanted to use it. My Draco's are supply and demand only, and since I supply and demand, theres none for you! Haha!
Belle: Lol... feeling is GOOD! Haha, and yeah, that was a little...icky, but whatever, I get your meaning... thanx!
buGspooKy: They're good guys in Flames, but I hate them, so I made them bad! Bad bad bad!
Crystalline Lily: Of COURSE they are... but they don't know it yet. Denial is good. I think they're both in it deep, and not just about their lovey dovey...ness, lol.
Starry Skies: Yeah, I recongnise you; lol... thanx! I think the common room would be really nice, had it been real! I'd like to live there... and yeah, there's going to be a Flames sequel. It'll start as soon as they leave for summer.
Jamie: Hooray for me! I couldn't do that more than once! Are you kidding? Do you know how much I cried when I killed him the first time? It was honestly at least an hour... all of this time I was rereading the story of course, but still! Sad shit, man... haha
Sweet Sorrow: No problem, I appreciate you coming back and doing it! And yeah, I sort of hate their guts, explaining the them being bastards thing... yeah
Silver Dragon Goddess: Yep, only 97 members! We could get that with a walk down the street! Lol. And yeah, I wouldn't buy a product called Smile- bright home facials but yeah, that's Hermione for you... one weird chica...
Jade-Snake: Why? Well, she DID kiss him first... and basically, he thinks she some hot stuff, there... yeah. And he does have feelings for her, just not very strong ones yet... I mean, think of it as Draco allowing you to snog him senseless... would you do it? Yes, this is what he feels toward Hermione. I sure as hell would do it. It's just physical attraction at the time being, with some underlaying and not understandable feelings going almost unnoticed.
Lassar: Um... okay! Thanx!
Little Witch: Yeah, I like the black, but no blood scripture for me, ha ha...
Plumbsy321: Yes, of course! I plan on it!
Last time on LGG:
"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.
~*~*~*~ (No one understood the snakes, and I think this is prettier; new page breaker!)
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CHAPTER SIX: Famished Felines and Lucky Lox
.
Draco, upon noting the absence of the winery dwellers, looked to Eglamour briefly, then shrugged and breezed through the common room and out the portrait. He, of course, said nothing as he made his way to the great hall. Eglamour wasn't exactly a good conversationalist. A good listener, yes, but not the one to turn to for intellectual stimulation.
This early in the day, the halls were nearly deserted. It was mostly female Ravenclaw and Gryffindor of younger years which were roaming about and reading as they hurried past him. Draco paid hardly any attention to the girls, but he did notice a few watch him for a moment before quickly turning their eyes away. Whether it was because of his stunning good looks... or the fact that he had a small black kitten sitting proudly on his shoulder, Draco didn't know, but he didn't particularly care. He wasn't interested in any of these girls; in his eyes, they were all the enemy. Each and every one of them had betrayed him... even those who didn't know who he was were on the opposing team. There was Draco and Hermione in black, and the rest of the world in white. Defying the rules of regulation wizard's chess... the black pieces will make the first move. Draco smiled to himself and thrust open the mess hall doors with some force, his speed never slowing.
Inside the hall, the four freshly shined tables were sparsely occupied. The Slytherin table held one first year, which had an open text book in front of him, but was asleep on his arm and drooling into his half eaten cranberry muffin. There was a group of three boys and two girls at the Ravenclaw table, comparing schedules and talking about their classes, but the Hufflepuff table was completely empty. Gryffindor was the most occupied. The infamous double-crossing duo was no where to be seen, but the younger sister of the more aggressive sat with a disgusted look about her, speaking to Finnegan, Longbottom, and Brown, who also looked quite untaken by the conversation. At the other end of the table, six first years were watching as the great Dean Tomas transfigured their quills into various breakfast pleasantries. This category also seems to include large mice.
Shaking his head, Draco made his way to the Slytherin table, sitting in his usual seat, which was conveniently quite far from the muffin boy. Before even thinking about his breakfast, Draco poured a large glass of pumpkin juice, and then proceeded to empty a shallow sugar bowl into the remaining portion found in the pitcher. Placing the now emptied sugar bowl on an empty expanse of the table, the Slytherin prefect poured a little pool of milk into his slapdash cat-dish and directed a warming spell, making the breakfast nice and toasty for his new friend.
Eglamour mewed happily and jumped from his shoulder and onto the table, sitting and beginning to lap up the milk. Draco smiled at the kitten, then looked about the table for something to feed himself. He placed three small bagels and lox on his plate, and peeled off the fishy layer, feeding it to Eglamour and distracting him long enough to allow Draco to refill the milk dish.
The breakfast commenced in silence, with the exception of the quite noisy lapping and licking of Eglamour. The new little supporter of the green and silver eventually ventured farther down the table, bothering almost every of the new Slytherin arrivals. In the end, Hermione's little black kitten had eaten the lox from four more bagels (which Draco did not finish off, as he did the first three), three saucers of warm milk, and a fried egg which was stolen from one of the students who had recently come down. The larceny went unnoticed by the girl, who was talking animatedly with Pansy Parkinson. Parkinson also had come for the first breakfast of the school year.
As Eglamour eventually returned to Draco's side and began to lick at the small amount of milk left in his saucer, the Slytherin prefect smiled.
"Ready to go back upstairs?" he asked and ran a hand down the cat's back. Eglamour arched at the touch and purred loudly, forgetting about the tiny drop of milk still left in his bowl. Draco then scratched the kitten's haunches, earning more purring, and finally bent down and placed a small kiss behind his new friend's ear.
"Aw, Ron, look! Drakey-kins is finally getting some; how sweet! Oh, and she's a real looker, too," said the annoyingly familiar and mocking voice of the one and only Hogwarts Head Boy. Draco almost got angry, but remembered his plans of revenge and stopped himself, smirking instead. He spun and stood, standing stiff and looking down at them.
"Good morning, gentlemen; what can I do you for?" he asked politely, gaining a sneer from Ron and an eye roll from Harry. Eglamour, who had totally forgotten about the remains of his breakfast, hopped off the table on to a nearby stool, then down to the floor, curiously approaching the two new beings.
"Cut the crap, Malfoy. Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, sounding rather annoyed and looking straight at the fellow officer he was addressing. Draco, however, was keeping a watchful eye over Eglamour, who was sniffing around Ron's feet and walking between his legs, much to the red-heads displeasure. As the kitten placed a gentle paw on Ron's ankle and lifted his head under the Gryffindor robes, Ron had had enough and angrily kicked the cat away. Draco's eyes widened as he watched his only male friend, with the exception of Sebastian, slide across the polished hardwood floor, unhurt but still violated. The Slytherin almost lashed out at his enemy for the mistreatment, but caught himself just in time and smirked.
"I don't know, why don't you ask her?" Draco replied to Harry's question and pointed to the small black kitten, which, as Harry and Ron watched, rolled over and stood, briefly displaying his assets.
"Malfoy, I hate to sound like I care, but have you gone mad? That is not Hermione," Ron said, shaking his head and Harry nodded.
"Most definitely not; that is a grubby rodent who is poorly attempting to pass itself off as a cat. And a male cat as well, if I'm not mistaken," he added. Draco shrugged; they had set themselves up perfectly.
"I wouldn't know; I didn't look... thought she wouldn't appreciate it much," he said indifferently, then snapped his fingers and patted his shoulder twice, signaling for Eglamour to join him once again. The cat did as he was asked, scrambling up Draco's back. When he was perched, Eglamour hissed at the two Gryffindor in his direct line of vision. Draco faked a wince. "And it doesn't seem she enjoyed you doing it either."
"There is no way that that is Hermione, Malfoy. Why don't you just stop being, well... you, and tell us where she is, hm? Hermione has had only one documented feline fortification, and when it happened she looked nothing like THAT," Harry said, pointing, and Draco rolled his eyes.
"If I must and it will get you to leave me alone, I'll tell you what happened. As we walked down to breakfast, some random person whom I didn't recognize hit our dear Gryffindor prefect here with a hex. I did hear said hex, however, and I know that it is only temporary. She will be herself again in a few hours," he said, sounding as if the explanation was exhausting and boring as hell. Harry and Ron dropped their mouths, glaring as they watched 'Hermione' affectionately wrap her tail around Draco's neck. He smirked as he saw the fire burn in Harry's eyes. Harry was starting to wonder if maybe Draco was telling the truth. That was a pretty well told story to have just been made up... and he couldn't risk not believing him. What would Hermione say tomorrow about his viewing of her temporary tin-soldier? Then, the raven-haired Head Boy took a small step forward, earning another hiss from the kitten perched on his enemy's shoulder.
"Hermione? I'm sorry... I didn't know it was you or I never would have... uh, yeah... I'm really sorry," Harry apologized, making it very hard for Draco to suppress his laughter.
"Yeah, me too, Mione. I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm sorry," Ron agreed and another urge to burst into hysterics hit Draco hard. He almost did lose his composure, but he had a job to do, and Malfoys were prided for self- control. He himself was no exception. Eglamour had no idea what these two people were saying, of course, but he knew they weren't to be trusted. First impressions mean a lot to cats.
"Well, Granger; do you forgive them?" Draco asked, turning toward Eglamour slightly. Ron stepped forward to be as close as Harry, which caused the tiny cat to suddenly seem very ferocious and intimidating despite his size, and hiss fiercely, causing them to jump back, faces dotted with spittle. Draco faked another wince. "If I were to guess, I'd say that's a no. Evidently, Granger didn't particularly like your taking advantage of her peek-show." At the distancing between himself and his two new enemies, Eglamour calmed down a bit and rubbed his head lovingly against Draco's. The Slytherin smirked smugly as he saw the looks on the faces of the Gryffindor. "Well, as I certainly don't wish to speak with or be in the presence of you two any longer, and my dorm-mate here can't speak to you, although I doubt she would if she could, I suppose we'll be heading upstairs. Wouldn't want the poor thing getting locked out of the common room, would we? And by the way Potter, I changed the password, so don't go trying to barge in or anything," he said passively and started to move, but Harry stopped him.
"How? You can't change the password without Head Boy or Girl verification," he said, attempting to catch Malfoy in a lie or red handed in something illegal, but Draco was too smooth for that.
"You can if you know how to teach a two hundred year old portrait of a cat how to play a song on a ukulele he's never heard before. We Malfoys are sweet-talkers," he said, winked, then turned and walked quickly from the hall, holding a hand to Eglamour to keep him on his shoulder. As they watched their enemy leave with their 'best friend' on his shoulder, Harry and Ron turned to each other with open mouths.
"If that really was Hermione, that means Malfoy kissed her... and she did that weird cat rubbing thing to him," Harry said and Ron nodded.
"And why was she trying to look up my robes?"
~*~*~*~
Draco took Eglamour in his arms as he exited the great hall, to keep him safe as he ran back to the common room. He stopped outside the portrait of the banjo playing feline and burst out laughing, unable to hold it in anymore. He set Eglamour gently on the ground, and the small kitten looked up at him with amused eyes, curious as to why his friend was so taken. When Draco finally felt ready to face Hermione again, he smoothed his hair and rubbed a tear from his eye, then shook his head and turned to address Cronan.
"Opale pallido," he said and the winged cat opened the door, never pausing in his gentle lullaby which came forth from the banjo. "You first, my friend," Draco said, gesturing for Eglamour to enter the room, which he did without hesitation. The little cat walked slowly for a while, then turned and bolted for the sofa circle, jumping up and into the lap of a person who was lying there, generating a moan. Curious, Draco followed, smiling as he saw what made Eglamour so excited. "Hey," he said and Hermione opened her eyes.
"Hey," she replied weakly. The slightly sick looking girl was lying on one of the couches, back against the seat cushions and eyes glued to the ceiling. Eglamour had jumped onto her stomach, which she had her hands held over, but moved to the back of the couch when he heard her discomfort. Hermione's knees were drawn up, and she looked almost as if she were in pain. Draco was about to ask what was wrong, but stalled when he noticed a small white box on the floor near the couch. Curious, he approached her and knelt down, picking up the box. Hermione said nothing and kept her eyes on the ceiling. Then, Draco laughed.
"Where did you get this?" he asked amusedly and Hermione swallowed.
"Brought it with me; bought it in Diagon Alley when I got my supplies," she said, not in the mood to argue. Draco held a big smile on his face.
"Did you eat the whole thing?" he asked in wonder and curiosity shaking the container and Hermione paused a moment before nodding. He laughed again. On the white box was a glossy red label which read 'Auntie Em's Famous Fudge; guaranteed never to harden. NET WT: 2.63 lb.' Upon opening this container of a tiny slice of heaven, Draco found only a few crumbs to suggest the mouth watering confection had ever existed. He'd had Auntie Em's before; it was amazing.
"Draco, am I going to die?" Hermione asked, sounding almost as if she really thought it possible. Draco laughed again.
"Maybe, but it's more probable that you'll just throw up. I know how good this stuff is, Hermione, but two and a half pounds? How did you even get that all down?"
"Well, I didn't eat dinner last night, or lunch... actually I don't even think I ate breakfast..." she said, then moaned, "Oh god, no more talking of food... or I may possibly be giving Auntie Em a refund." Draco laughed and stood, seating himself on the only vacant cushion and crossing his arms over her knees, chin on his hands.
"Speaking of breakfast, you should have been there... actually, you shouldn't have or you would have ruined my joke, but regardless, you'll love what happened." Hermione groaned again at the reoccurring thought of breakfast and clutched her stomach. Draco smirked at her discomfort and looked quickly to Eglamour, who was sleeping again and didn't look back. "Food wise, it was amazing... there was toast and muffins..." She moaned again, which only caused Draco to smirk more. "And lox and bagels; do you like lox? I don't particularly, but Eglamour does... and eggs, too. He stole Millicent Bulstrode's and she didn't even notice..."
"Draco, I said STOP talking about food, not START talking about food..." Hermione said, sounding to be in agony, but this didn't hinder Draco's spirit.
"I know, I heard you... anyway; I poured the entire bowl of sugar into the pumpkin juice, right? Then Marcus Flint comes and pours himself a glass... it was hilarious; he spit it out all over Blaise Zambini, including in her porridge. So she gave up on it and just ate toast... it was funny though, Flint made sure to carefully taste everything before he ate it. Hey, which do you like better, cranberry jam or gooseberry marmalade? Personally I think pumpkin butter solves any choice making problems. That stuff is wicked."
"Malfoy, you are honestly the cruelest person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting in my entire life. Bastard," Hermione said closing her eyes and turning her face into the back of the couch.
"Yeah, I could have told you that... okay, okay, I'm sorry. Can I tell you what happened now? No food, I promise, and you'll love it," he asked pleadingly and Hermione opened her eyes again, looking skeptically at him. Draco put on the most innocent face possible and batted his eye lashes, which caused her to laugh, then moan once more.
"If it'll keep my mind of my insane attempts at suicide through over- consumption of an exceptionally good block of fudge," she agreed, but Draco's smile faltered a bit.
"Is that really what you were trying to do?" he asked, sounding almost worried, and Hermione blinked.
"No, of course not... that would have been stupid. I was just hungry," she assured him. "Hey, don't worry. If I were planning something like that, I'd tell you first," Hermione told him with a smile, and Draco smiled back, but he wasn't quite sure if she was serious. Something in him hoped against all hope that she would never need to have such a conversation with him. "So, what's this amazing occurrence I just HAVE to know about?" Draco smiled again and moved his hands from beneath his chin, letting them slide down the tops of Hermione's bare thighs and back up a few times. She, unlike before, was wearing a very short pair of black shorts with a t-shirt much like the one she had worn on the train, minus the ripping and band logo.
"Potter and Weasley think you're Eglamour," he said simply and Hermione, who had been watching his hands and analyzing the feelings she was receiving form his gentle touch, looked up at him, confused and surprised.
"What?"
"I assumed, judging by the approximate age of Eglamour and the sparse knowledge I have in regards to a timeline of when you fell out of contact with the prat pack, that your little friends didn't know about your cat. So, when they angrily came and asked where you were, I told them you were randomly hexed and that he was you. Now, this would be slightly humorous, but I've left out what happened before I told them this. Firstly, remember that Weasley kicked you across the floor," Draco said and Hermione interrupted.
"He what? What an asshole... are you alright, baby?" she asked Eglamour sweetly, shifting to her side and pulling him down beside her, allowing herself to comfort the poor thing.
"He's alright, or I would have kicked Weasel's arse... but that's nothing compared to what Potter did." Hermione clutched Eglamour tightly.
"What did he do?" she asked worriedly, bringing the now awake and silently complying kitten close to her face, covering him with kisses. Draco smiled.
"Nothing harmful," he said, reaching a hand to lightly scratch the victim's back. "But, considering he thinks that it was you and not some cat, it's priceless."
"Tell me already," she ordered with a smile, letting Eglamour settle down and petting him contentedly.
"He saw your... wand," Draco said, smirking. "Or, Eglamour's rather." Hermione looked confused.
"But Eglamour's a cat, he doesn't have a.... oh..." she said, realization hitting her when Draco raised his eyebrows. Then, she giggled, but it wasn't the Smile-Bright Home Facial giggles, these were regular, dark and morbid Granger giggles. More of an evil laugh than a giggle, really. "And they think it was me? Oh, this IS priceless." Draco smiled smugly.
"I told you. And Eglamour played the part perfectly... I really don't know how Potter noticed, though; it's so damn tiny," he teased with a smile and rubbed a finger along the groove behind Eglamour's ear. Hermione smirked.
"He's just a baby, Draco. You pop out with an eighteen inch iguana, people are going to start talking." Draco smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Ah, the ignorance of virgins," he said blissfully and Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"Who says?" she asked and he looked at her, slightly surprised. Hermione blushed a bit and turned her eyes to Eglamour once more. "Who cares?" Draco laughed.
"Anyway, in order for this to work, next time you see your little posse, pretend that it really WAS you. It's not much, but it'll give us a start... and a more obvious reason to be angry with them... plus, because Eggy doesn't hate me... and they think he's you, it gives them another reason to despise me," Draco said. "It's perfect." Hermione chuckled slightly.
"Eggy... that's... different," she said, smiling lovingly at the small black kitten in her arms. Draco shrugged.
"Eglamour, although I agree with you on the liking it thing, is a very long name."
"Hermione is longer," Hermione pointed out. Draco shrugged.
"Fine, I'll call him Eglamour, and I'll call you Eggy," he suggested, then smirked. Hermione smiled in a flattered way, feeling much better than she had when she was alone.
"Good luck on me answering you," she warned and Draco shrugged.
"My father always says that a silent woman is the best woman," he told her and Hermione frowned at the degrading of females.
"And do you agree?" she asked seriously, causing Draco to look at her. He seemed unsure and contemplated his answer for a moment.
"No, I don't think so. That's got to be pretty boring, you know? I mean, if you have to be married to someone, wouldn't you want them to be interesting? And it would waste that aspect of their personality by not speaking with them. Like, take my father for example. Mother does not speak in his presence, unless asked a question or in the greeting of other people, he only speaks orders to house elves, and only speaks insults, criticism, and what he idiotically calls wisdom to me. He's got no one close to him; no one to talk to. I don't think I could live like that," Draco said, sounding quite honest and truthful. Hermione stared at him with a sweet smile on her face and Draco smiled sheepishly. "And I have no idea why I told you that; that was incredibly weird; I don't tell anyone stuff like that." Hermione put the hand not trapped below Eglamour over Draco's, which still rested mid thigh.
"Hey, you can trust me. I'm glad to hear you say that, really. I get a whole new view of you when you speak so openly; it's nice."
"Yeah," Draco said, smiling. "I liked it too."
"So, who do you talk to?"
"Hm?" Hermione smiled.
"You said that your father has no one to talk to, and that you couldn't live like that, suggesting that you have someone to fill that role. I asked who," she explained and he smiled.
"Mum talks to me. When I realized it was stupid for her to not be able to say what she wants to, I told her so. It took a while, but she got used to being able to speak freely around me, and it's made her happier, I think. She's really an amazing person... and I talk to the house elves sometimes; if I have a problem I can't talk to Mum about or if I simply feel like talking and one happens to be there... and I KNOW that makes them happier. I listen to them, too... it's rather cute, really, and their problems seem so insignificant to me... like they cooked twenty potatoes instead of twenty ONE like my father asked." He chuckled. "As if he's going to count them..." Hermione smiled.
"Strange; I never placed you in the 'speaks openly to lower class members' category, but hey... it's not so preposterous. If I had house elves, I'd probably talk to them all the time..." Draco raised his eyebrows.
"You mean you don't?"
"No, of course not. I'm Mudblood Granger, remember? Muggles don't have house elves, especially if they live in muggle neighborhoods, such as myself and my parents," Hermione reminded him and Draco tilted his head in a sort of nod.
"I suppose that makes sense... so do you have servants or something? Who does all the stuff the house elves are supposed to do?"
"No, it would be stupid to have servants in our house; it's probably like one one-thousandth the size of yours...we just do everything ourselves... it's not like it's really hard, I mean... it's just cooking for crying out loud," Hermione said, sounding a bit uneasy at the mention of cooking, and placed her hand back on her stomach.
"I've never cooked anything in my life; nor seen anything cooked, actually," Draco said, shaking his head. "I think I'm a tad bit jealous."
"How very honest of you," Hermione said, actually slightly surprised. Draco nodded.
"I know; weird, huh?"
"Hey, don't worry. Maybe I could teach you sometime? It's not hard, I swear," she suggested and Draco looked at her, eyes backlit with suppressed excitement.
"Really?" Hermione smiled sweetly.
"Sure... ugh, but not right now... the smell of anything cooking could cause terrible, terrible things to happen to me at this moment in time," she warned and Draco smiled, then kissed her bare knee.
"You know, if I wanted to be REALLY mean right now, I could tickle you or something," he threatened and Hermione's eyes grew slightly wide.
"Oh god, please, don't...uh, you might um... hurt Eglamour! Oh, poor baby," she said, ruffling the tiny kitten's fur and kissing him. "Hasn't he had enough torment for one day?"
"Yes, yes, wouldn't want to hurt Eggy... and I wouldn't do that anyway... I'm not THAT much of a bastard."
"Some people would beg to differ," Hermione said with a smirk and Draco matched it.
"Don't push your luck, Granger," he warned and she smiled. "Hey, do you hear that?" Draco then asked, crinkling his brow. Hermione let go of Eglamour and propped herself up a bit, listening.
"I don't..."
"Shh," he said gently and Hermione listened hard.
"Mandy, just GO; I'm STARVING!" called a voice in what was supposed to be a whisper and both heads turned to the darkened doorway which led downstairs.
"Morag, will you please SHUT UP! Do you want them to hear you? They're still out there!" called a second voice and Hermione turned to Draco, who was smirking.
"I don't care if Voldemort is out there, I'm hungry and I'm going to breakfast! If you're too chicken, then move and let me through!"
"Didn't you already prove your immense stupidity last night? Do you really want to do that again?"
"If I could do it then, I can do it now. And now I actually have a reason!" Loud footsteps were heard marching up the stairs and Hermione laid back down while Draco smirked wider and rested his head on her knee, again rubbing her legs with his hands. In seconds, Morag emerged from the door way and stomped across the common room toward the portrait hole. Draco raised his eyebrows at Hermione, silently asking 'Are you just going to let him leave like that?' She smirked and called after him.
"What, not even a good morning? That's not very nice now is it? Good morning Hermione. Good morning Draco. Good morning Morag... was that so hard? I'm hurt, really," she said, mocking pain in her voice. Morag, being the king of blurtation, couldn't help but let another idiotic comment slip.
"Oh, shove it up your arse, Granger," he said icily, then his face contorted in a painful wince before he simply paled and turned his eyes to Draco attentively. "Oh shit," he mumbled. Draco could actually hear Mandy in the stairway banging her head into the wall. He looked down at Hermione, who raised her eyebrows and shrugged, her look saying 'I'll let you handle this one.'
"My, my, my MacDougal... I believe that was a bit uncalled for. I suggest you apologize to the lady immediately." Hermione smiled at Draco as if he was a knight in shining armor, saving her from the terrible fire-breathing dragon and he smiled back in a silent 'you're welcome.'
"Bite me, Malfoy. I'm not afraid of you." A loud and devastating moan was heard from the downward staircase, followed by louder banging. Again, Draco looked to Hermione.
"Go ahead, you know you want to," she whispered and Draco smirked, kissed her knee once more, then stood, making his way slowly toward the Hufflepuff prefect.
"Oh you're not now, are you? Well, that's good, because we wouldn't want that. Tension in the common room causes tension in the classroom... and as prefects we are respected throughout the student body." Hermione snickered, but Draco continued. "So tell me... Moooraag," he said, stretching out the name. "What ARE you afraid of?" Draco began to walk circles around the obviously scared boy. Morag stood stiff and straight, eyes watching every step Draco took, face pale and beaded with sweat. "Oh, come now," Draco said when he didn't answer. "Everybody's afraid of something... I happen to know that Potter is afraid of dementors, Weasley is afraid of spiders... Hermione is afraid of my father, and I am afraid of drowning, having no one to talk to, and the crucias curse. What are YOU afraid of?" Morag swallowed nervously and the banging from the doorway stopped momentarily.
"Pregnant women," he said quietly, but the silence was so complete that everyone could hear him loud and clear.
A/N: Yes, I know, stupid and boring, but hey, I tried. I personally thought that whole Hermione is Eglamour thing was cute... and pretty funny, lol, really.
PRF:
Tainted Black: I changed the separators; no worries! And yes, Eglamour is scrumptious! His name doesn't mean anything to me, it's just that I liked it when I read that play (Two Gentlemen of Verona - Shakespeare) so I wanted to use it. My Draco's are supply and demand only, and since I supply and demand, theres none for you! Haha!
Belle: Lol... feeling is GOOD! Haha, and yeah, that was a little...icky, but whatever, I get your meaning... thanx!
buGspooKy: They're good guys in Flames, but I hate them, so I made them bad! Bad bad bad!
Crystalline Lily: Of COURSE they are... but they don't know it yet. Denial is good. I think they're both in it deep, and not just about their lovey dovey...ness, lol.
Starry Skies: Yeah, I recongnise you; lol... thanx! I think the common room would be really nice, had it been real! I'd like to live there... and yeah, there's going to be a Flames sequel. It'll start as soon as they leave for summer.
Jamie: Hooray for me! I couldn't do that more than once! Are you kidding? Do you know how much I cried when I killed him the first time? It was honestly at least an hour... all of this time I was rereading the story of course, but still! Sad shit, man... haha
Sweet Sorrow: No problem, I appreciate you coming back and doing it! And yeah, I sort of hate their guts, explaining the them being bastards thing... yeah
Silver Dragon Goddess: Yep, only 97 members! We could get that with a walk down the street! Lol. And yeah, I wouldn't buy a product called Smile- bright home facials but yeah, that's Hermione for you... one weird chica...
Jade-Snake: Why? Well, she DID kiss him first... and basically, he thinks she some hot stuff, there... yeah. And he does have feelings for her, just not very strong ones yet... I mean, think of it as Draco allowing you to snog him senseless... would you do it? Yes, this is what he feels toward Hermione. I sure as hell would do it. It's just physical attraction at the time being, with some underlaying and not understandable feelings going almost unnoticed.
Lassar: Um... okay! Thanx!
Little Witch: Yeah, I like the black, but no blood scripture for me, ha ha...
Plumbsy321: Yes, of course! I plan on it!