Disclaimer:
Last time on LGG:
"Hey, Potter, I don't like it any more than you do. She keeps...COMPLAINING... and moaning and groaning... it's getting quite annoying. But, I do feel quite sorry for her. She's rather angry with you, and I don't blame her... but regardless, she is a... scrawny little... woman, so I'm being nice and helping her out. She told me to kick your ass, but I think I'll leave that for her once she's regained herself... as much as I'd like to honor her wishes. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to have my dinner and get back to your little friend there... she'll probably get mad if she needs something and I'm not back yet. Good day, gentlemen," he said, pretended to tip his imaginary hat, then spun and headed for the Slytherin table. Unfortunately, there were quite a few more people at dinner than there had been at breakfast.
Draco watched as Harry and Ron glared at him, then went back to their dinner. He looked around at the table, disgusted at the groups of people who hadn't even acknowledged his presence. True to his word, he spent no more than twenty minutes in that crowded room.
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER EIGHT: Why Insomnia Isn't So Uncommon
When Hermione woke again, she found the scenery around her had changed. She was no longer in the common room, but in fact her own room, hovering a foot above the bed. When this realization struck her, she panicked... causing her to fall onto the soft four poster and right on top of Eglamour. The little kitten let out a fierce howl at being woken in such an unorthodox way, and Hermione immediately lifted herself off of him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, baby! I didn't mean to!" she said in a whisper, pulling the kitten into her arms and hugging him tight. Eglamour seemed to be much more forgiving to her than he had been to Ron and Harry, for he immediately began to purr. Hermione turned over and sat up, still holding Eglamour, and began rocking him. "Are you alright, love? Oh, I'm so sorry..." she said again, and her feline friend mewed. Eventually, Hermione let him go and he jumped out of her arms and on to the pillow on the opposite side of the bed. Eglamour curled up and, still purring, went back to sleep.
She ran a hand sleepily through her hair and took a deep breath, then dropped her shoulders with a sigh, surveying her position. The room was quite dark and Hermione looked to the window, through the open curtains, and across the moonlit landscape. It really was quite pretty outside.
"My lord, Eglamour, what's happening to me? I'm thinking constructive thoughts and using words like 'moonlight' and 'pretty'. I think you're turning me soft." Hermione smiled and looked about the room; yes, it was her room alright. She was still wearing the clothes she had fallen asleep in, thank god; it would have been a little scary if someone had changed them. The bed was still made below her and she knitted her brows. "Why exactly was I levitating... and what time is it?" she wondered out loud and looked to the charmed digital clock on her night table. 11:37. "Dammit; it's too late to take the potion, Eg, I have classes tomorrow. What do I do then, hm? Just stay awake until tomorrow? I suppose I could... I've already slept at least ten hours today... I actually feel pretty good."
Hermione smiled and looked back at the kitten, but something else caught her eye. There, on the bed-table opposite the one which housed her alarm clock, was a bowl of something on top of a folded piece of parchment. She raised her eyebrows at Eglamour, but he was already asleep again and didn't pay her any mind. Much, much, past his bedtime. With a slight shrug, Hermione let curiosity take over and leaned across the bed, pulling the note carefully from below the bowl, which she was now close enough to recognize as some sort of broth-y soup. On the outside of the parchment were five words that made her smile against her will.
"Go back to sleep, Granger."
Instead of heading the words of the message, Hermione opened the note. As she expected, it continued.
"I see we listen well. Yes, I did bring you upstairs. No, I did not go in your room. I apologize for the levitating thing, but I didn't want to wake you up by setting you back down. The soup is for you, although I'm sure you won't eat it. Yes, yes, I know... body bind on the spot, yeah, I don't feel like it. I suppose you can wake me if you need anything, but beware; I tend to get a little grouchy. And I did feed Eglamour, no worries. Go back to sleep already; classes tomorrow. Potions first; try to quell the excitement.
~Draco"
Again, Hermione smiled.
"That was awful nice of him, don't you think? Maybe you're turning him soft to Eg. You're a bad influence on us." Eglamour didn't even move. Hermione sighed. "But he's right; I'm not eating that soup." Again, Eglamour was too preoccupied with his sleep to bother even flicking an ear at her. Hermione shook her head a bit and got out of bed, leaving the note on the mussed spread. She wasn't going back to sleep; that was for sure... well, at least not now; might as well go out to the mini-common room and at least have a nice fire to sit by.
Hermione grabbed her wand and changed into warm black pajamas; flannel pants and a sweatshirt, then started out to the mini-common room. Her journey was interrupted, however, as she stepped on something quite sharp and had to hold in a shriek. Lighting her wand and pointing it downward, Hermione saw the remains of what looked like an entire grilled trout, licked clean by what must have been a very happy Eglamour.
"Now that's just gross," she said, flicking her wand and cleaning up the mess, then casting a lemon-scented refresher charm, making her room smell light and airy, not like fish and not like furniture polish.
As she silently opened the door, the Gryffindor prefect was surprised to see that lighting a fire wouldn't be necessary; one was already lit. While Hermione looked curiously at the blazing flames, a soft grunt of frustration was heard from the other end of the room. Looking down the way, she saw a nicely built blonde boy in a black t-shirt and forest green boxers hunched over one of the desks, wearing thin framed glasses and a determined look on his face as he wrote. Curious, Hermione smiled and silently let her bare feet sneak up behind Draco, looking over his shoulder. She said nothing, reading over his shoulder. Potions. Brilliant. Suddenly, Draco's quill stopped and he tilted his head up a tiny bit; he obviously noticed something.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked in a whisper, an inch from his ear, and Draco jumped at least six inches off the seat.
"Bloody hell Granger! Was that really necessary?" he asked, placing a hand to his chest and breathing a little awkwardly. Hermione simply smiled.
"Yes, I think it was." Draco scowled.
"I thought I told you to go back to sleep. Repeatedly if memory serves me," he reminded her and turned back to his homework, but Hermione smiled.
"I can't give you a straight yes or no on that one. Yes, you did tell me to go to sleep, but I also told you that I can't sleep without my potion, and it's too late to take it now," she said smartly and Draco looked up again.
"You didn't have any problems earlier," he said, looking suspicious.
"There's a difference between falling asleep and going to sleep, Draco. I wasn't trying earlier; I was just tired. Now, I'm not, meaning I can't just go in there and sleep; it doesn't work that way," Hermione explained and Draco nodded for a moment, then smirked.
"I was beginning to think you only said that to get yourself in bed with me."
"Ha!" Hermione laughed. "If memory serves ME, I believe it that was YOUR idea, not mine." Draco just shrugged and started writing again. "I ask again, what are you doing?"
"Potions," he said simply, a tone of disgust in his voice.
"Yes, yes, I can see that. Why are you doing it now?"
"Because I'm a dumb-ass and I forgot all about it until I wrote that note reminding you we had potions first thing tomorrow. Oh joy; time to pull an all night-er. So, if you wouldn't mind, I kind of need to do this," he said irritably, but she knew it was because he simply didn't want to.
"Don't you read?" she asked as if his ignorance was pathetic.
"Yes, I do, but that's irrelevant, isn't it?" Hermione rolled her eyes and lifted her wand.
"Per il bastardo truffare," she said as if bored.
"Hey!" said the Slytherin in anger at her bilingual insult, but Draco shut up quickly and watched with wide eyes as ten pages filled themselves, completing a perfect essay on the effects of the artificial pheromone potion on other species. "How did you...?"
"Just a little something I picked up somewhere or another. You really shouldn't use it unless you honestly have to... although it can't really be constituted as cheating."
"How do you figure? I didn't do the work for one, and for two it says right in the spell 'for the cheating bastard'... how is that not cheating?"
"Because I already knew everything I put in that essay; all the spell does is take what you know and write it down in the way you'd probably have written it anyway. So if you don't know anything about the topic, you're still going to have a bloody bad essay."
"And how does it do that exactly?" Hermione looked innocently toward the ceiling and shrugged, lifting her hands as well.
"Magic?" she suggested in sweet sarcasm and Draco smiled, shaking his head. He stood from his chair and began to gather his papers.
"Well, thanks Hermione; I owe you one. You've just given me about six hours of sleep... I could just kiss you," he said the last sentence a bit over sarcastically and Hermione stuck out her lip and crossed her arms in a mock pout. Draco rolled his eyes and moved toward her with a smirk, giving her a small peck on the lips.
"Well, that was pathetic," she said, sounding as if she really were a bit disappointed. Not one to leave a girl unsatisfied, Draco kissed her again, full and hard on the lips, surprising both of them a little. Hermione was quick to recover and kiss him back with equal force, ready to be done with that still unfinished kiss they had started on the train less than two days ago. When it finally was completed, Draco pulled back to look at her, lifting an eyebrow in question of his performance. Hermione smirked. "Much better," she admitted and Draco smirked smugly; that was good enough for him. He didn't exactly expect Granger to throw herself at his feet and beg for more, so he wasn't disappointed.
"You know," Hermione said, tilting her head and inspecting him as if she were looking for something. "Those are some stylish frames you have there; I never even knew you wore glasses." Draco self consciously removed his visual aid from his face and concealed them in his hand, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Most people don't," he mumbled and Hermione smiled.
"I like them; I think they look good," she said, then shrugged. "But what do I know?" Draco, not knowing what to say, cleared his throat softly.
"Thanks... 'Night, then," he said, picking up his newly written and neatly stacked essay and moving toward his door.
"Just a minute there, Mr. Travolta. You can't turn in that essay," Hermione said, causing Draco to stop and turn around.
"Oh, come on, you're not really going to make me write the whole thing are you? I kissed you, you owe me," he said, pleadingly, and Hermione smiled.
"I kissed you back; we're even on that account, but yes, I do owe you, and no, I'm not going to make you write it all... but you can't turn in that," she said, pointing to the pile in his hand.
"Why not?"
"Because the second half is word for word what I wrote, and in my hand writing, meaning we'll both get burned. You have to do the spell yourself," she told him and Draco nodded.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Thanks," he said again and she shrugged.
"My arse on the line too," Hermione said and there was a brief moment of silence. Then Draco jumped a bit.
"Right... sleep, then," he said, pointing toward his room. Hermione smiled a bit and gave a slight nod, still standing just behind his chair. Draco looked at her for a moment, then dropped his hand and started toward the door. As soon as he began to move, Hermione stepped forward and kissed his cheek, then spun and walked toward the fireplace, sitting in one of the two large chairs. Draco just stared after her, a little surprised.
"For bringing me upstairs," she explained, although he hadn't officially asked her anything. At this response, Draco smirked.
"Well, that was pathetic," he mimicked, expecting perhaps another kiss, but Hermione was on to him. She shrugged.
"What can I say? I'm a pretty pathetic person in general," she reminded him with a smirk and Draco smiled, shaking his head.
"Whatever, Granger. Hey, you feel better?" Hermione's smile grew wide at his thought and she turned her head to him.
"Yes, much, thanks," she said happily and Draco gave a smiling nod.
"Don't stay up too late; potions, remember," he reminded her for perhaps the forth time that night. Hermione laughed.
"What are you, my mother?"
"I hope not; that would be a little hard to explain... and then Morag would be afraid of me. Because he isn't right now," Draco said, the last sentence dripping with sarcasm.
"No, of course not," Hermione agreed, borrowing his tone.
"Wouldn't want baggy eyes now, would we?" he asked, attempting to back up his previous statement. Hermione shrugged.
"I don't know... might compliment my creepy Goth look, don't you think?" Draco shook his head.
"Even a simple conversation with you is exhausting, Hermione," he told her and she laughed.
"Oh, go to bed already and stop complaining."
"Oh, that's right... we have that go to bed when I tell you to relation. I'd forgotten all about that... perhaps it was because you didn't when I told you to?" Hermione just shrugged innocently. "And, just so you know, if you take a couple drops of that potion instead of a whole vial, it'll put you to sleep but you'll still have dreams and you'll still wake up normally." Hermione, who was slouched in her chair, straightened at this new information. She started fiddling with her hands, doing calculations, and mumbling to herself, then looked up at Draco with wide eyes.
"Oh my god, you're right..." she said in amazement. Draco looked smug.
"Of course I'm right," he said arrogantly, but Hermione ignored this. She stood from her chair and rushed past him to the other side of the room, opening the top drawer of the desk she'd claimed, and extracting a bottle. As she passed him again on the way back to her room, Hermione kissed his cheek.
"Thank you so much... you have no idea," she said, shaking her head, then returned to her room, leaving an overly confident, but overly exhausted, Draco alone in the mini-common room. For a brief moment, Draco wondered why he had told her. So she wouldn't have to suffer, he assumed, but couldn't help but hear a tiny voice ask why she couldn't avoid suffering surrounded in black sheets with his arms wrapped around her. He shrugged and brushed the longing off as a lustful attraction, returning to his room... his empty, lonely, lemon-free room. God, he really needed to know what shampoo that was...
~*~*~*~
Hermione knocked on Draco's door. It was ten after eight, and he still hadn't gotten up.
"Malfoy, we have class in twenty minutes; you plan on being there?" she called with a smirk and heard him grumble, then shift, but it was obvious he wasn't getting up. "Oh come on Draco, I didn't help you with that essay so you could skip class, get you're lazy arse out of bed!" Draco called back something which slightly resembled 'Leave me the fuck alone'. Hermione rolled her eyes and let herself into his room; she didn't particularly want to go to class all alone... not with so many people after her.
As she expected, Draco was still in bed, laying on his stomach with a pillow over his head, presumably to keep out her wake up calls. Hermione contemplated just shaking him awake, but she thought she could be more creative than that. This was an unsurpassable opportunity. It took only a moment before a smirk crossed her face. Instead of speaking to the boy in his bed, Hermione stepped to the orange bathroom door and let herself in. Had Draco been paying attention... or awake... he would have heard the sink running for a good two minutes. The water stopped and Hermione reappeared in his room seconds later, her hand dripping wet. She carefully knelt on the bed and moved over to the sleepy Slytherin, who made no notice of this action, then used her dry hand to pull down his ebony sheets.
Hermione kept an eye on the prefect's sleeping face as she carefully lifted the top of his shirt and slid her hand below. When her skin made contact with his, Draco practically screamed.
"Ahh! What the hell, Granger?! That's fucking cold!" he called angrily, jumping and rolling away, causing Hermione to remove her hand from his back. She was laughing almost hysterically, now laying next to him with her face buried into the unused pillow, attempting to stifle her uncontrollable laughter.
"I know... I can't even feel my fingers anymore..." she managed to gasp out between howls. Draco glared at her curled and shaking form, rubbing the cold from the back of his neck with a hand.
"I didn't think it was that funny," he grumbled and Hermione tried a little harder to compose herself.
"You didn't see your face," she said, wiping a tear from her eye and taking a deep breath. "Oh, that totally made my day... I'll die happy now," Hermione told him, shaking her head.
"Gee, glad I could be of some help," he said sarcastically. "Now that you've had your fun, mind if I go back to sleep?" Draco asked, but didn't bother to wait for an answer before rolling over and pulling the black blankets over his head. Hermione laughed again.
"What, you think I woke you up just to see your pretty little pureblooded face? Sorry, love; I have a tad bit more of a life than that." Draco groaned and pulled the sheets back to his shoulders; why wouldn't she just go away? It was too damn early... he shouldn't have stayed up to write that potions essay... oh shit! Potions! As if Hermione had read his mind, she leaned close to his ear. "We have class in fifteen minutes; might I suggest you... you know... go?" Draco sighed.
"Yeah, thanks Granger." Hermione smiled and said nothing more before simply getting off his bed and leaving the room. Class. Damn it to hell, they had class. What the hell was it with school anyway? It was either class or practice or homework... no time for sleeping. No, no, no... let's let the children run on four cups of coffee and a fifteen minute nap time between homework and class. Sounds good.
~*~*~*~
Hermione, who had been ready for almost an hour before she even thought of waking the Slytherin, left Draco's room and went directly to the common room, grabbing her bag on the way. Mandy and Morag were on the couch looking through some papers and getting an early start on their homework; they'd had a seven thirty - eight o'clock class and an hour open before Herbology. She flounced in and both prefects looked up.
"Hello my pretties," she said in a monotone, then burst into an overenthusiastic witch-y cackle. Mandy and Morag looked at her with wide eyes, then at each other, then back at Hermione. "Wow, you guys really are no fun. I expect Draco'll be down soon... just a thought," she said, enjoying the pale in Morag's face, then waved innocently before brushing out the portrait door.
"Is it just me or does she just get weirder and weirder?" Morag asked and Mandy shrugged.
"She creeps me out a little sometimes; that's for sure."
~
It wasn't ten minutes later that Draco came bounding into the common room carrying his bag. At the sound of Vans on wood as he made his way downstairs, Morag stiffened and swallowed visibly. Mandy rolled her eyes.
"God, you are such a wimp," she said and her comrade glared.
"Am not! I'm not afraid of him!" he defended, but his confidence was short lived. Mandy rolled her eyes again.
"Sure you're not."
"I'm not! I could take him!" he insisted, glaring.
"Rah!" yelled Draco from an inch behind the Hufflepuff. Morag shrieked, in a very... feminine way, and literally jumped into Mandy's arms. His nerves were already a bit shot with the mention of the stalwart Slytherin, and the unanticipated roar caused him to lose it. At this sight, Draco lost it; he laughed harder than Hermione had at wake up call. "That never gets old..." he said, shaking his head.
"Gerroff me, you big lug!" Mandy cried, pushing Morag onto the floor with a loud thump.
"Ow..." he wined, rubbing his rear and momentarily forgetting all about the tall blonde behind him. Draco smiled amusedly and shook his head again.
"As entertaining as this is, I have a class in about five minutes and I'm already going to be late. Either of you seen Granger?" he asked, looking to Mandy first, then Morag. At the reminder of the prefect's presence, the lone Hufflepuff spun around and backed into one of the other couches. He was mumbling and gurgling like an idiot. Draco raised an eyebrow. "Alright... I'll take that as a no. Brocklehurst?" Mandy was trying her very hardest not to look intimidated, and was doing quite a good job at it. She had resumed her writing and didn't stop as she answered.
"Um, yeah... she left about ten minutes ago," she said, finished her sentence, then looked up at him. Draco smirked; he could see the subtle fear and fierce attentiveness in her eyes. He turned his gaze back to Morag, and once again the boy peeped. Then, Draco got an idea. His gave a nod and took a step forward, ignoring another peep from MacDougal. In one swift motion, Draco placed a soft kiss on Mandy's cheek.
"Thanks," he said, then swiftly left the room, still holding onto his bag. Morag's face turned a dark shade of red, but it was nothing compared to Mandy's.
"How dare he just...just...!" he said, gritting his teeth in anger. Mandy rolled her eyes. She agreed with him that the kiss was slightly out of line, but she wasn't about to go beating the hell out of Malfoy for it. She'd enjoyed it much too much for that...
"Shut up, Morag, it's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! He just...just...uh, I could strangle that guy!" he said fiercely. The Ravenclaw sighed.
"God, Morag, you act like he came through and screwed me or something," she said exasperatedly and Morag shrieked again, this time a little more manly.
"Ah! That was an unneeded preview of 'Mental Images Which May Cause Premature Death - The Movie'," he said, his face holding a look of pure, unadulterated, disgust. Annoyed at his overreaction, Mandy threw a book at him, then went back to her essay.
~*~*~*~
By the time Draco reached the potions classroom, he was at an all out run. Thinking quickly, he stopped at the doors and pushed them open slowly, so as not to cause too much of a distracting and get himself more disciplinary action. As he opened the door and looked around, Draco sighed and smiled. It was pure chaos. For one, Professor Snape was no where to be seen; he enjoyed making a big entrance and an even bigger speech on the fist day of classes. The room was a complete free-for-all. Students were out of their seats, parchment wads and simple curses were flying, the girls sat in the corner, all leaning in to catch the newest and juiciest piece of gossip, two Slytherin were arm wrestling for the right to choose this week's unluckiest Gryffindor, Potter and that Head Girl were snogging at one of the desks, and in the back row, at an empty table, was a lone girl dressed completely in black.
Draco had a wonderful view; she seemed not to care that the shirt below her robes was quite revealing in those mouth watering areas, or that the rips in her baggy pants were placed just perfectly at that second for an unsuspected male to peek upon. She sat, eyes closed, leaning back, her legs stretched out in front of her; ankles crossed, and head bobbing slightly as her mouth recited some silent verse. She was invisible to the world; and to her the world did not exist. With a smile, Draco approached her.
"Hey Granger," he said, startling the girl and causing her to open her eyes and sit up straight.
"Hey Malfoy," she said, her face innocently confused. As Draco prepared his materials and on the table beside her, Hermione took off her head phones and picked up her wand, turning the music off with a simple incantation. "Are you going to sit next to me?" Draco stopped his organization and looked toward her.
"If I'm allowed?" he asked more than stated and she tilted her head.
"Don't you care what people are going to think?" she asked quietly and Draco shrugged.
"Not really."
"Well, what about Parkinson; she'll tell your father."
"I'm sure she's already blown everything way out of proportion and told him every last fabricated detail. I can deal with my father, Hermione." She said nothing, just stared blankly at him. Draco sighed. "Hey, if you don't want me to sit here, I won't. Simple as that; just say the word," he told her and Hermione straightened.
"No, I don't care; do whatever you want to," she said, then smiled at the essay in front of her. Draco smirked and sat down, moving his chair closer to her on purpose.
"Hey," he said after a moment. "You see Potter?" Hermione laughed and looked toward the couple, who were still playing an exciting game of tonsil hockey.
"How could I miss it?" she asked and he smirked. As they watched, Harry touched a particularly nice spot in his finger flying voyage of her skirt and Hannah shrieked happily. "Goal!" Hermione said in a whisper and Draco laughed.
"I thought she was going out with that other guy... I think he's a Hufflepuff... his last name sounds like flem." Hermione nodded.
"Finch-Fletchley. I think you're right... oh, but Draco, this is Harry Potter," Hermione said sarcastically and turned back to him. "Any girl would dump Elvis for a night with that stud there, I'll tell you." Draco laughed again and Hermione smiled. "But seriously, I bet even most of the Slytherin girls would throw themselves at his feet if he showed the slightest bit of interest. It's disgusting, really. I mean, he's all talk... and he never says anything. All he has to do is recite his name to some girl who wouldn't have looked twice other wise and boom, they're batting their eyelashes and sighing blissfully. Just remembering these numerous occasions is making me sick; in reality, Harry Potter is the most boring, self-centered, egotistical, womanizing, son-of-a-bitch I've ever had the displeasure of meeting in my entire life," she said, sending Harry and his new Head Girl girlfriend a disgusted scowl.
"Even me?" Draco asked with a fake pout and Hermione turned back to him, immediately smirking.
"Yes, even you," she agreed.
"Wow... that was a low blow," he said, shaking his head and Hermione shrugged. There were a few moments of silence before she got over her annoyance and moved on to more interesting matters.
"Hey, were the winers still in the common room when you came downstairs?" she asked and Draco smirked evilly.
"Oh, indeed."
"Well, what did you do to them?" Draco put on the most suspicious innocent look in history and blinked.
"Why, nothing, of course," he insisted, but Hermione smirked.
"That good, huh? Tell me!" she begged and he laughed.
"You'll never guess."
"That's why I'm not trying; just tell me, damn it," Hermione demanded, still smiling.
"Only if you promise not to wake me up like that... ever," he said, looking narrowly at her. Hermione laughed.
"Okay, okay, I promise."
"I kissed Brocklehurst; right in front of MacDougal," he said and Hermione felt her heart unexpectedly drop, along with her smile.
"You w-what?"
A/N: is this a cliffie? Oh well, if it is, HAHA! I wanted to get this up as soon as possible, and it's already a little longer than I'd have anticipated.
PRF: Sorry, I want to get this up and I don't feel like doing all the thingys... if you reviewed the last chapter, thanx!
For those of you wondering, in the last chapter...
I wrote that song by 'HEX'. Considering they're not a real band, I kind of had to make something up.
The other songs are indeed by the band REO Speedwagon. The first was called Tough Guys, and the second was called Don't Let Him Go. Both are on the album entitled 'Hi Infidelity'. Thanx for your interest! They're a great band!
Special peeps I decided to actually answer:
Tom*Feltons*Babe: Yeah, I kind of thought that too... that Eggy was like their son... lol, it's cute. And I was thinking like X-rated movies, in which I go all descriptive... like, NC-17 or whatever that rating they took off was... yeah; like that...
Jamie: sorry; got a little bit o' action in this here chappy!
Tainted Black: Yeah, my friends and I never talk about that stuff either, but hey... they do!
Sleepy-kitty: Smart ass-y is MY bag, baby!
Ezmerelda: Extreme Exmeme... just go with it? Yes, that's a long length to go to, but yeah, I think I'll do some more explaining in later chapters.
Last time on LGG:
"Hey, Potter, I don't like it any more than you do. She keeps...COMPLAINING... and moaning and groaning... it's getting quite annoying. But, I do feel quite sorry for her. She's rather angry with you, and I don't blame her... but regardless, she is a... scrawny little... woman, so I'm being nice and helping her out. She told me to kick your ass, but I think I'll leave that for her once she's regained herself... as much as I'd like to honor her wishes. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to have my dinner and get back to your little friend there... she'll probably get mad if she needs something and I'm not back yet. Good day, gentlemen," he said, pretended to tip his imaginary hat, then spun and headed for the Slytherin table. Unfortunately, there were quite a few more people at dinner than there had been at breakfast.
Draco watched as Harry and Ron glared at him, then went back to their dinner. He looked around at the table, disgusted at the groups of people who hadn't even acknowledged his presence. True to his word, he spent no more than twenty minutes in that crowded room.
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER EIGHT: Why Insomnia Isn't So Uncommon
When Hermione woke again, she found the scenery around her had changed. She was no longer in the common room, but in fact her own room, hovering a foot above the bed. When this realization struck her, she panicked... causing her to fall onto the soft four poster and right on top of Eglamour. The little kitten let out a fierce howl at being woken in such an unorthodox way, and Hermione immediately lifted herself off of him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, baby! I didn't mean to!" she said in a whisper, pulling the kitten into her arms and hugging him tight. Eglamour seemed to be much more forgiving to her than he had been to Ron and Harry, for he immediately began to purr. Hermione turned over and sat up, still holding Eglamour, and began rocking him. "Are you alright, love? Oh, I'm so sorry..." she said again, and her feline friend mewed. Eventually, Hermione let him go and he jumped out of her arms and on to the pillow on the opposite side of the bed. Eglamour curled up and, still purring, went back to sleep.
She ran a hand sleepily through her hair and took a deep breath, then dropped her shoulders with a sigh, surveying her position. The room was quite dark and Hermione looked to the window, through the open curtains, and across the moonlit landscape. It really was quite pretty outside.
"My lord, Eglamour, what's happening to me? I'm thinking constructive thoughts and using words like 'moonlight' and 'pretty'. I think you're turning me soft." Hermione smiled and looked about the room; yes, it was her room alright. She was still wearing the clothes she had fallen asleep in, thank god; it would have been a little scary if someone had changed them. The bed was still made below her and she knitted her brows. "Why exactly was I levitating... and what time is it?" she wondered out loud and looked to the charmed digital clock on her night table. 11:37. "Dammit; it's too late to take the potion, Eg, I have classes tomorrow. What do I do then, hm? Just stay awake until tomorrow? I suppose I could... I've already slept at least ten hours today... I actually feel pretty good."
Hermione smiled and looked back at the kitten, but something else caught her eye. There, on the bed-table opposite the one which housed her alarm clock, was a bowl of something on top of a folded piece of parchment. She raised her eyebrows at Eglamour, but he was already asleep again and didn't pay her any mind. Much, much, past his bedtime. With a slight shrug, Hermione let curiosity take over and leaned across the bed, pulling the note carefully from below the bowl, which she was now close enough to recognize as some sort of broth-y soup. On the outside of the parchment were five words that made her smile against her will.
"Go back to sleep, Granger."
Instead of heading the words of the message, Hermione opened the note. As she expected, it continued.
"I see we listen well. Yes, I did bring you upstairs. No, I did not go in your room. I apologize for the levitating thing, but I didn't want to wake you up by setting you back down. The soup is for you, although I'm sure you won't eat it. Yes, yes, I know... body bind on the spot, yeah, I don't feel like it. I suppose you can wake me if you need anything, but beware; I tend to get a little grouchy. And I did feed Eglamour, no worries. Go back to sleep already; classes tomorrow. Potions first; try to quell the excitement.
~Draco"
Again, Hermione smiled.
"That was awful nice of him, don't you think? Maybe you're turning him soft to Eg. You're a bad influence on us." Eglamour didn't even move. Hermione sighed. "But he's right; I'm not eating that soup." Again, Eglamour was too preoccupied with his sleep to bother even flicking an ear at her. Hermione shook her head a bit and got out of bed, leaving the note on the mussed spread. She wasn't going back to sleep; that was for sure... well, at least not now; might as well go out to the mini-common room and at least have a nice fire to sit by.
Hermione grabbed her wand and changed into warm black pajamas; flannel pants and a sweatshirt, then started out to the mini-common room. Her journey was interrupted, however, as she stepped on something quite sharp and had to hold in a shriek. Lighting her wand and pointing it downward, Hermione saw the remains of what looked like an entire grilled trout, licked clean by what must have been a very happy Eglamour.
"Now that's just gross," she said, flicking her wand and cleaning up the mess, then casting a lemon-scented refresher charm, making her room smell light and airy, not like fish and not like furniture polish.
As she silently opened the door, the Gryffindor prefect was surprised to see that lighting a fire wouldn't be necessary; one was already lit. While Hermione looked curiously at the blazing flames, a soft grunt of frustration was heard from the other end of the room. Looking down the way, she saw a nicely built blonde boy in a black t-shirt and forest green boxers hunched over one of the desks, wearing thin framed glasses and a determined look on his face as he wrote. Curious, Hermione smiled and silently let her bare feet sneak up behind Draco, looking over his shoulder. She said nothing, reading over his shoulder. Potions. Brilliant. Suddenly, Draco's quill stopped and he tilted his head up a tiny bit; he obviously noticed something.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked in a whisper, an inch from his ear, and Draco jumped at least six inches off the seat.
"Bloody hell Granger! Was that really necessary?" he asked, placing a hand to his chest and breathing a little awkwardly. Hermione simply smiled.
"Yes, I think it was." Draco scowled.
"I thought I told you to go back to sleep. Repeatedly if memory serves me," he reminded her and turned back to his homework, but Hermione smiled.
"I can't give you a straight yes or no on that one. Yes, you did tell me to go to sleep, but I also told you that I can't sleep without my potion, and it's too late to take it now," she said smartly and Draco looked up again.
"You didn't have any problems earlier," he said, looking suspicious.
"There's a difference between falling asleep and going to sleep, Draco. I wasn't trying earlier; I was just tired. Now, I'm not, meaning I can't just go in there and sleep; it doesn't work that way," Hermione explained and Draco nodded for a moment, then smirked.
"I was beginning to think you only said that to get yourself in bed with me."
"Ha!" Hermione laughed. "If memory serves ME, I believe it that was YOUR idea, not mine." Draco just shrugged and started writing again. "I ask again, what are you doing?"
"Potions," he said simply, a tone of disgust in his voice.
"Yes, yes, I can see that. Why are you doing it now?"
"Because I'm a dumb-ass and I forgot all about it until I wrote that note reminding you we had potions first thing tomorrow. Oh joy; time to pull an all night-er. So, if you wouldn't mind, I kind of need to do this," he said irritably, but she knew it was because he simply didn't want to.
"Don't you read?" she asked as if his ignorance was pathetic.
"Yes, I do, but that's irrelevant, isn't it?" Hermione rolled her eyes and lifted her wand.
"Per il bastardo truffare," she said as if bored.
"Hey!" said the Slytherin in anger at her bilingual insult, but Draco shut up quickly and watched with wide eyes as ten pages filled themselves, completing a perfect essay on the effects of the artificial pheromone potion on other species. "How did you...?"
"Just a little something I picked up somewhere or another. You really shouldn't use it unless you honestly have to... although it can't really be constituted as cheating."
"How do you figure? I didn't do the work for one, and for two it says right in the spell 'for the cheating bastard'... how is that not cheating?"
"Because I already knew everything I put in that essay; all the spell does is take what you know and write it down in the way you'd probably have written it anyway. So if you don't know anything about the topic, you're still going to have a bloody bad essay."
"And how does it do that exactly?" Hermione looked innocently toward the ceiling and shrugged, lifting her hands as well.
"Magic?" she suggested in sweet sarcasm and Draco smiled, shaking his head. He stood from his chair and began to gather his papers.
"Well, thanks Hermione; I owe you one. You've just given me about six hours of sleep... I could just kiss you," he said the last sentence a bit over sarcastically and Hermione stuck out her lip and crossed her arms in a mock pout. Draco rolled his eyes and moved toward her with a smirk, giving her a small peck on the lips.
"Well, that was pathetic," she said, sounding as if she really were a bit disappointed. Not one to leave a girl unsatisfied, Draco kissed her again, full and hard on the lips, surprising both of them a little. Hermione was quick to recover and kiss him back with equal force, ready to be done with that still unfinished kiss they had started on the train less than two days ago. When it finally was completed, Draco pulled back to look at her, lifting an eyebrow in question of his performance. Hermione smirked. "Much better," she admitted and Draco smirked smugly; that was good enough for him. He didn't exactly expect Granger to throw herself at his feet and beg for more, so he wasn't disappointed.
"You know," Hermione said, tilting her head and inspecting him as if she were looking for something. "Those are some stylish frames you have there; I never even knew you wore glasses." Draco self consciously removed his visual aid from his face and concealed them in his hand, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Most people don't," he mumbled and Hermione smiled.
"I like them; I think they look good," she said, then shrugged. "But what do I know?" Draco, not knowing what to say, cleared his throat softly.
"Thanks... 'Night, then," he said, picking up his newly written and neatly stacked essay and moving toward his door.
"Just a minute there, Mr. Travolta. You can't turn in that essay," Hermione said, causing Draco to stop and turn around.
"Oh, come on, you're not really going to make me write the whole thing are you? I kissed you, you owe me," he said, pleadingly, and Hermione smiled.
"I kissed you back; we're even on that account, but yes, I do owe you, and no, I'm not going to make you write it all... but you can't turn in that," she said, pointing to the pile in his hand.
"Why not?"
"Because the second half is word for word what I wrote, and in my hand writing, meaning we'll both get burned. You have to do the spell yourself," she told him and Draco nodded.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Thanks," he said again and she shrugged.
"My arse on the line too," Hermione said and there was a brief moment of silence. Then Draco jumped a bit.
"Right... sleep, then," he said, pointing toward his room. Hermione smiled a bit and gave a slight nod, still standing just behind his chair. Draco looked at her for a moment, then dropped his hand and started toward the door. As soon as he began to move, Hermione stepped forward and kissed his cheek, then spun and walked toward the fireplace, sitting in one of the two large chairs. Draco just stared after her, a little surprised.
"For bringing me upstairs," she explained, although he hadn't officially asked her anything. At this response, Draco smirked.
"Well, that was pathetic," he mimicked, expecting perhaps another kiss, but Hermione was on to him. She shrugged.
"What can I say? I'm a pretty pathetic person in general," she reminded him with a smirk and Draco smiled, shaking his head.
"Whatever, Granger. Hey, you feel better?" Hermione's smile grew wide at his thought and she turned her head to him.
"Yes, much, thanks," she said happily and Draco gave a smiling nod.
"Don't stay up too late; potions, remember," he reminded her for perhaps the forth time that night. Hermione laughed.
"What are you, my mother?"
"I hope not; that would be a little hard to explain... and then Morag would be afraid of me. Because he isn't right now," Draco said, the last sentence dripping with sarcasm.
"No, of course not," Hermione agreed, borrowing his tone.
"Wouldn't want baggy eyes now, would we?" he asked, attempting to back up his previous statement. Hermione shrugged.
"I don't know... might compliment my creepy Goth look, don't you think?" Draco shook his head.
"Even a simple conversation with you is exhausting, Hermione," he told her and she laughed.
"Oh, go to bed already and stop complaining."
"Oh, that's right... we have that go to bed when I tell you to relation. I'd forgotten all about that... perhaps it was because you didn't when I told you to?" Hermione just shrugged innocently. "And, just so you know, if you take a couple drops of that potion instead of a whole vial, it'll put you to sleep but you'll still have dreams and you'll still wake up normally." Hermione, who was slouched in her chair, straightened at this new information. She started fiddling with her hands, doing calculations, and mumbling to herself, then looked up at Draco with wide eyes.
"Oh my god, you're right..." she said in amazement. Draco looked smug.
"Of course I'm right," he said arrogantly, but Hermione ignored this. She stood from her chair and rushed past him to the other side of the room, opening the top drawer of the desk she'd claimed, and extracting a bottle. As she passed him again on the way back to her room, Hermione kissed his cheek.
"Thank you so much... you have no idea," she said, shaking her head, then returned to her room, leaving an overly confident, but overly exhausted, Draco alone in the mini-common room. For a brief moment, Draco wondered why he had told her. So she wouldn't have to suffer, he assumed, but couldn't help but hear a tiny voice ask why she couldn't avoid suffering surrounded in black sheets with his arms wrapped around her. He shrugged and brushed the longing off as a lustful attraction, returning to his room... his empty, lonely, lemon-free room. God, he really needed to know what shampoo that was...
~*~*~*~
Hermione knocked on Draco's door. It was ten after eight, and he still hadn't gotten up.
"Malfoy, we have class in twenty minutes; you plan on being there?" she called with a smirk and heard him grumble, then shift, but it was obvious he wasn't getting up. "Oh come on Draco, I didn't help you with that essay so you could skip class, get you're lazy arse out of bed!" Draco called back something which slightly resembled 'Leave me the fuck alone'. Hermione rolled her eyes and let herself into his room; she didn't particularly want to go to class all alone... not with so many people after her.
As she expected, Draco was still in bed, laying on his stomach with a pillow over his head, presumably to keep out her wake up calls. Hermione contemplated just shaking him awake, but she thought she could be more creative than that. This was an unsurpassable opportunity. It took only a moment before a smirk crossed her face. Instead of speaking to the boy in his bed, Hermione stepped to the orange bathroom door and let herself in. Had Draco been paying attention... or awake... he would have heard the sink running for a good two minutes. The water stopped and Hermione reappeared in his room seconds later, her hand dripping wet. She carefully knelt on the bed and moved over to the sleepy Slytherin, who made no notice of this action, then used her dry hand to pull down his ebony sheets.
Hermione kept an eye on the prefect's sleeping face as she carefully lifted the top of his shirt and slid her hand below. When her skin made contact with his, Draco practically screamed.
"Ahh! What the hell, Granger?! That's fucking cold!" he called angrily, jumping and rolling away, causing Hermione to remove her hand from his back. She was laughing almost hysterically, now laying next to him with her face buried into the unused pillow, attempting to stifle her uncontrollable laughter.
"I know... I can't even feel my fingers anymore..." she managed to gasp out between howls. Draco glared at her curled and shaking form, rubbing the cold from the back of his neck with a hand.
"I didn't think it was that funny," he grumbled and Hermione tried a little harder to compose herself.
"You didn't see your face," she said, wiping a tear from her eye and taking a deep breath. "Oh, that totally made my day... I'll die happy now," Hermione told him, shaking her head.
"Gee, glad I could be of some help," he said sarcastically. "Now that you've had your fun, mind if I go back to sleep?" Draco asked, but didn't bother to wait for an answer before rolling over and pulling the black blankets over his head. Hermione laughed again.
"What, you think I woke you up just to see your pretty little pureblooded face? Sorry, love; I have a tad bit more of a life than that." Draco groaned and pulled the sheets back to his shoulders; why wouldn't she just go away? It was too damn early... he shouldn't have stayed up to write that potions essay... oh shit! Potions! As if Hermione had read his mind, she leaned close to his ear. "We have class in fifteen minutes; might I suggest you... you know... go?" Draco sighed.
"Yeah, thanks Granger." Hermione smiled and said nothing more before simply getting off his bed and leaving the room. Class. Damn it to hell, they had class. What the hell was it with school anyway? It was either class or practice or homework... no time for sleeping. No, no, no... let's let the children run on four cups of coffee and a fifteen minute nap time between homework and class. Sounds good.
~*~*~*~
Hermione, who had been ready for almost an hour before she even thought of waking the Slytherin, left Draco's room and went directly to the common room, grabbing her bag on the way. Mandy and Morag were on the couch looking through some papers and getting an early start on their homework; they'd had a seven thirty - eight o'clock class and an hour open before Herbology. She flounced in and both prefects looked up.
"Hello my pretties," she said in a monotone, then burst into an overenthusiastic witch-y cackle. Mandy and Morag looked at her with wide eyes, then at each other, then back at Hermione. "Wow, you guys really are no fun. I expect Draco'll be down soon... just a thought," she said, enjoying the pale in Morag's face, then waved innocently before brushing out the portrait door.
"Is it just me or does she just get weirder and weirder?" Morag asked and Mandy shrugged.
"She creeps me out a little sometimes; that's for sure."
~
It wasn't ten minutes later that Draco came bounding into the common room carrying his bag. At the sound of Vans on wood as he made his way downstairs, Morag stiffened and swallowed visibly. Mandy rolled her eyes.
"God, you are such a wimp," she said and her comrade glared.
"Am not! I'm not afraid of him!" he defended, but his confidence was short lived. Mandy rolled her eyes again.
"Sure you're not."
"I'm not! I could take him!" he insisted, glaring.
"Rah!" yelled Draco from an inch behind the Hufflepuff. Morag shrieked, in a very... feminine way, and literally jumped into Mandy's arms. His nerves were already a bit shot with the mention of the stalwart Slytherin, and the unanticipated roar caused him to lose it. At this sight, Draco lost it; he laughed harder than Hermione had at wake up call. "That never gets old..." he said, shaking his head.
"Gerroff me, you big lug!" Mandy cried, pushing Morag onto the floor with a loud thump.
"Ow..." he wined, rubbing his rear and momentarily forgetting all about the tall blonde behind him. Draco smiled amusedly and shook his head again.
"As entertaining as this is, I have a class in about five minutes and I'm already going to be late. Either of you seen Granger?" he asked, looking to Mandy first, then Morag. At the reminder of the prefect's presence, the lone Hufflepuff spun around and backed into one of the other couches. He was mumbling and gurgling like an idiot. Draco raised an eyebrow. "Alright... I'll take that as a no. Brocklehurst?" Mandy was trying her very hardest not to look intimidated, and was doing quite a good job at it. She had resumed her writing and didn't stop as she answered.
"Um, yeah... she left about ten minutes ago," she said, finished her sentence, then looked up at him. Draco smirked; he could see the subtle fear and fierce attentiveness in her eyes. He turned his gaze back to Morag, and once again the boy peeped. Then, Draco got an idea. His gave a nod and took a step forward, ignoring another peep from MacDougal. In one swift motion, Draco placed a soft kiss on Mandy's cheek.
"Thanks," he said, then swiftly left the room, still holding onto his bag. Morag's face turned a dark shade of red, but it was nothing compared to Mandy's.
"How dare he just...just...!" he said, gritting his teeth in anger. Mandy rolled her eyes. She agreed with him that the kiss was slightly out of line, but she wasn't about to go beating the hell out of Malfoy for it. She'd enjoyed it much too much for that...
"Shut up, Morag, it's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! He just...just...uh, I could strangle that guy!" he said fiercely. The Ravenclaw sighed.
"God, Morag, you act like he came through and screwed me or something," she said exasperatedly and Morag shrieked again, this time a little more manly.
"Ah! That was an unneeded preview of 'Mental Images Which May Cause Premature Death - The Movie'," he said, his face holding a look of pure, unadulterated, disgust. Annoyed at his overreaction, Mandy threw a book at him, then went back to her essay.
~*~*~*~
By the time Draco reached the potions classroom, he was at an all out run. Thinking quickly, he stopped at the doors and pushed them open slowly, so as not to cause too much of a distracting and get himself more disciplinary action. As he opened the door and looked around, Draco sighed and smiled. It was pure chaos. For one, Professor Snape was no where to be seen; he enjoyed making a big entrance and an even bigger speech on the fist day of classes. The room was a complete free-for-all. Students were out of their seats, parchment wads and simple curses were flying, the girls sat in the corner, all leaning in to catch the newest and juiciest piece of gossip, two Slytherin were arm wrestling for the right to choose this week's unluckiest Gryffindor, Potter and that Head Girl were snogging at one of the desks, and in the back row, at an empty table, was a lone girl dressed completely in black.
Draco had a wonderful view; she seemed not to care that the shirt below her robes was quite revealing in those mouth watering areas, or that the rips in her baggy pants were placed just perfectly at that second for an unsuspected male to peek upon. She sat, eyes closed, leaning back, her legs stretched out in front of her; ankles crossed, and head bobbing slightly as her mouth recited some silent verse. She was invisible to the world; and to her the world did not exist. With a smile, Draco approached her.
"Hey Granger," he said, startling the girl and causing her to open her eyes and sit up straight.
"Hey Malfoy," she said, her face innocently confused. As Draco prepared his materials and on the table beside her, Hermione took off her head phones and picked up her wand, turning the music off with a simple incantation. "Are you going to sit next to me?" Draco stopped his organization and looked toward her.
"If I'm allowed?" he asked more than stated and she tilted her head.
"Don't you care what people are going to think?" she asked quietly and Draco shrugged.
"Not really."
"Well, what about Parkinson; she'll tell your father."
"I'm sure she's already blown everything way out of proportion and told him every last fabricated detail. I can deal with my father, Hermione." She said nothing, just stared blankly at him. Draco sighed. "Hey, if you don't want me to sit here, I won't. Simple as that; just say the word," he told her and Hermione straightened.
"No, I don't care; do whatever you want to," she said, then smiled at the essay in front of her. Draco smirked and sat down, moving his chair closer to her on purpose.
"Hey," he said after a moment. "You see Potter?" Hermione laughed and looked toward the couple, who were still playing an exciting game of tonsil hockey.
"How could I miss it?" she asked and he smirked. As they watched, Harry touched a particularly nice spot in his finger flying voyage of her skirt and Hannah shrieked happily. "Goal!" Hermione said in a whisper and Draco laughed.
"I thought she was going out with that other guy... I think he's a Hufflepuff... his last name sounds like flem." Hermione nodded.
"Finch-Fletchley. I think you're right... oh, but Draco, this is Harry Potter," Hermione said sarcastically and turned back to him. "Any girl would dump Elvis for a night with that stud there, I'll tell you." Draco laughed again and Hermione smiled. "But seriously, I bet even most of the Slytherin girls would throw themselves at his feet if he showed the slightest bit of interest. It's disgusting, really. I mean, he's all talk... and he never says anything. All he has to do is recite his name to some girl who wouldn't have looked twice other wise and boom, they're batting their eyelashes and sighing blissfully. Just remembering these numerous occasions is making me sick; in reality, Harry Potter is the most boring, self-centered, egotistical, womanizing, son-of-a-bitch I've ever had the displeasure of meeting in my entire life," she said, sending Harry and his new Head Girl girlfriend a disgusted scowl.
"Even me?" Draco asked with a fake pout and Hermione turned back to him, immediately smirking.
"Yes, even you," she agreed.
"Wow... that was a low blow," he said, shaking his head and Hermione shrugged. There were a few moments of silence before she got over her annoyance and moved on to more interesting matters.
"Hey, were the winers still in the common room when you came downstairs?" she asked and Draco smirked evilly.
"Oh, indeed."
"Well, what did you do to them?" Draco put on the most suspicious innocent look in history and blinked.
"Why, nothing, of course," he insisted, but Hermione smirked.
"That good, huh? Tell me!" she begged and he laughed.
"You'll never guess."
"That's why I'm not trying; just tell me, damn it," Hermione demanded, still smiling.
"Only if you promise not to wake me up like that... ever," he said, looking narrowly at her. Hermione laughed.
"Okay, okay, I promise."
"I kissed Brocklehurst; right in front of MacDougal," he said and Hermione felt her heart unexpectedly drop, along with her smile.
"You w-what?"
A/N: is this a cliffie? Oh well, if it is, HAHA! I wanted to get this up as soon as possible, and it's already a little longer than I'd have anticipated.
PRF: Sorry, I want to get this up and I don't feel like doing all the thingys... if you reviewed the last chapter, thanx!
For those of you wondering, in the last chapter...
I wrote that song by 'HEX'. Considering they're not a real band, I kind of had to make something up.
The other songs are indeed by the band REO Speedwagon. The first was called Tough Guys, and the second was called Don't Let Him Go. Both are on the album entitled 'Hi Infidelity'. Thanx for your interest! They're a great band!
Special peeps I decided to actually answer:
Tom*Feltons*Babe: Yeah, I kind of thought that too... that Eggy was like their son... lol, it's cute. And I was thinking like X-rated movies, in which I go all descriptive... like, NC-17 or whatever that rating they took off was... yeah; like that...
Jamie: sorry; got a little bit o' action in this here chappy!
Tainted Black: Yeah, my friends and I never talk about that stuff either, but hey... they do!
Sleepy-kitty: Smart ass-y is MY bag, baby!
Ezmerelda: Extreme Exmeme... just go with it? Yes, that's a long length to go to, but yeah, I think I'll do some more explaining in later chapters.