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Last time on LGG:
"Who's that?"
"Froth. Oh, and look, Lance too... reunion time," she said as a taller brunette followed him down the steps, both getting into their rusty station wagon. Hermione waited until they drove a good distance away before she stepped back out from behind the tree, pulling Draco behind her.
"Well, that was... interesting."
"Good looking guys, aren't they?" Hermione asked sarcastically and Draco laughed.
"I wasn't going to say anything...but..." Hermione grinned.
"I vote we... I don't know, burn all their clothes or something," she suggested. "Something small to start with, just to give them warning."
"That's good... if they're wearing them."
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER TWENTYSIX: Offending Nun
Once Froth and Lance were far, far away from that oak tree, Hermione stepped out, frowning, and started down the street again. Draco sighed and followed her.
"Hey... you okay?" he asked, coming up behind her and having little trouble kissing her neck; she was walking quite slowly. Hermione gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Yep, I'm just fiiiine," she said and Draco smiled against her skin.
"We'll get them, don't worry," he assured in her ear and Hermione laughed.
"That's what you said about Harry and Ron," she said, crossing her arms and halting, annoyed with the awkward way they were walking.
"Yeah, and I meant it. We will... which reminds me, what was that potion you were working on in CMC last class?" Draco asked, whispering as to be safe, and Hermione smiled.
"I forgot about that too. It's in the dorm, though... so it's safe. I made a counter-blemish potion." Draco raised his eyebrow and Hermione laughed. "That whole no-magic-over-the-summer thing assures me that they won't come back with girlfriends... although I don't really care, but that's not the point. With exception of this year, Harry, Ron, and I all meet up at a scheduled point so that I can give them a blemish potion to get rid of their... skin... DISEASE, I guess you could say. We wait until it takes effect, then get on the train. They won't go anywhere until I help them... of course, Ginny and I are the only ones who know about this little secret, but she understands that it's a very delicate matter that cannot be helped, and doesn't tell. I, on the other hand, don't give a shit about them, so, I'm purposely slipping my secret to the whole school... and I'm sure it'll take them a while to brew another potion, considering they've never done it before, and they're not the brightest of people."
"Did you notice that all of your plans have something to do with their appearances and popularity?" he asked, smirking, and Hermione nodded.
"That's the key to revenge. You've gotta find a weakness. Harry and Ron's weakness is that they cease to function if not horded by girls. So what do I do, naturally? Get rid of the girls," she explained and he shook his head.
"You never cease to amaze me, Mya," Draco said, kissing her neck softly. Hermione turned around to face him, her smile replaced.
"I feel a whole lot better now," she stated and Draco laughed, giving her a tiny kiss.
"Thought you might. So, what about your Garbage Pickers over there," he asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to the house of Froth and Lance. Hermione smirked.
"Always pillage before you burn," she said and Draco, impressed, raised an eyebrow. "First blackmail, then scorch."
"You've got dirt, I presume?" Hermione grinned and nodded, taking his hand and again starting for the supermarket.
"Of course. Froth talks in his sleep... and it's usually about little bunny foo-foo and 'no miss fairy, don't hurt my wabbi!'... Lance has two webbed toes on each foot... I once found Froth trying on my clothes... Lance asked me to marry him once when he was drunk... oh, god... drunk. There's a gold mine right there. I think we could work with that," she said, laughing and shaking her head. Draco grinned.
"You're getting good at this revenge thing, aren't you?" Hermione smiled.
"Oh, indeed. Hm... well, continuing on... Froth is about as incompetent as they come. I'll have you know, we've slept together once, but it would have been more, could he get that tadpole at attention. When you don't turn on a guy who looks like that, you know there's a problem somewhere," she said, frowning, and Draco smiled. He leaned close to her ear.
"You turn me on," he said in a seductive whisper, causing Hermione to smile again. She looked up at him.
"I know... look, I'm upgrading. And hey, at least you won't have to worry about any ex-boyfriends coming back and taking me away. Hell if I'd resist kicking him where it counts," she said, turning to glare at the house, which was now a good hundred feet in their wake. "But me, on the other hand," Hermione said, turning back and smiling. Draco smiled.
"Never," he assured, and Hermione grinned, leading him to the edge of the sidewalk. "What are we doing?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too pathetically stupid. Hermione simply smiled.
"Crossing the street, Drakey," she said, waiting for a big rig to go by, then hurrying across the street, holding Draco's hand.
"Right..."
"The market is over here. You want breakfast, don't you?" she said smartly, not stopping once she got to the other side. "It's just around the corner." Sighing and grumbling something about male stereotypes, Draco followed.
~*~*~*~
"Okay. Well, go ahead and pick whatever you want... we're only here for five or six meals anyway... I'm not making anything huge," Hermione said as she pushed a creaky cart through the halls of the tiny town shopping center. Wick's Mini Mart. Draco followed, looking around at the strange set up of food.
"I don't understand this place," Draco said as Hermione tossed a jar of peanut butter in the cart. She laughed.
"We pick food. We buy food. We eat food. What's there not to understand?" she asked, continuing down an isle.
"Yeah... but, there's all this stuff, right here... couldn't someone just come in, eat, and leave without anyone knowing?" he asked stupidly, picking up a box of rice and turning it over to view the other side. Hermione laughed and grabbed it from him, throwing it into the cart.
"No, Drakey," she said, nodding toward the big black eye that watched them as they wound through the aisles. Draco looked up at the mirrored surface, but didn't understand.
"What's that?"
"Surveillance camera. It's watching us... if we just started opening stuff and chowing down, we'd have guards on our tails in minutes. Do you prefer ranch dressing or Italian?" Draco looked blankly at her, and Hermione looked at him encouragingly, holding up the two bottles. When he said nothing, she smiled. "Italian it is then. Good choice," she said picking her bottle and continuing down the isle. Draco shook his head and followed.
"Stupid muggles; this is ridiculous," he said, again looking around. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Keep your voice down?" she suggested, giving him a look and Draco sighed. "And I don't know what you're talking about. Wizards have grocery stores too."
"Bull," he said, looking disbelievingly, and Hermione shrugged.
"Doubt it, but that's what it says," she said, tossing a small box of processed hamburgers into the cart.
"We do NOT have facilities such as this. It's preposterous," Draco repeated, ignoring her side remark. Hermione stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Yes, you do."
"Do not!"
"Must you be so juvenile?"
"How come I've never seen one, then?"
"Because, you, Draco, are a pretty little rich boy, and your house elves do all your shopping," she said sharply, turning back around, annoyed by the stupidity of the conversation at dispense.
"Pa-lease... you're not going to pound me with all that 'house elves should be banned' crap, are you? I thought you were over that," Draco said, pleadingly, and Hermione sighed.
"No, of course not, I'm just pointing out the obvious. Your elves DO do all your shopping."
"True, but it's not like I'm shut indoors all day. There IS a town that I DO occasionally venture to. Why haven't I seen one?" Draco asked, determined to be right in this dispute, however immature it would make him sound.
"I don't know! I'm a mudblood, remember? THIS is MY supermarket. I've never been to a wizard one either, I don't know how it works," she said exasperatedly, slamming another item into her cart. Draco flinched slightly at the name she'd used to acknowledge herself.
"Mya..." he started, not sure if he should apologize, or hug her, maybe... Hermione shook her head.
"Forget it, Draco," she said, somewhat sadly. Draco was silent for a moment, then, still frowning, continued with their argument. It was less awkward than talking about mudbloods.
"How do you know they even exist if you've never been to one?" Hermione smirked.
"Again, you forget who I am, Drakey. I am Hermione Granger. I have spent probably 99% of my time not spent in class in the library. How do you think I know?"
"Okay, okay, you win... I give up," Draco said, sighing, and Hermione smiled triumphantly.
"That's a first."
"Maybe."
"Hm.... oh, one more thing, then I think we're done. We'll probably be throwing half this out later anyway," Hermione said, turning toward the freezer section. More specifically, the ice cream section. "Not allergic to anything, are you?"
"Not that I know of," Draco said, bored with the shopping experience. Hermione grinned.
"Good," she said and extracted one half gallon of Death by Chocolate ice cream, a lustful look in her eye. "Come Drakey, to the checkout," she said, smiling at him, and Draco returned it weakly, following her to the line. Once at the register, Hermione picked up one of every tabloid she could find and added them to her cart, then parked it behind an elderly nun, who smiled at the couple, although a little as if she didn't like them. Draco raised an eyebrow at her, but Hermione didn't pay any mind, flipping through one of the tabloids and starting into a story concerning Bat Boy and the president. Gotta love Bat Boy.
With a smirk, Draco stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her middle and resting his chin on her shoulder. Hermione smiled and looked suspiciously up at him and he pulled back far enough to give her a kiss on the lips, then squeezed her as she shrugged, turning back to her tabloid. The nun downright glared.
This only made Draco's smirk grow. Interested in annoying the old woman, he began kissing behind Hermione's ear, making her smile, then moved down her neck, gently sucking a hickey into her soft skin. She stopped reading and closed her eyes, enjoying his caress. The nun's mouth dropped in shock, then she huffed and turned around. Draco laughed and Hermione opened her eyes. He started again on her neck, but she turned her head, eyebrow raised.
"Did you do that to piss of that nun?" she asked in whisper, suspicious, and Draco mocked innocent.
"Partially," he whispered back and Hermione shook her head, turning forward again. Draco grinned and started again with the sucking.
"Stop," she snapped, folding her magazine and placing it back in the pile, then crossing her arms. Draco pouted.
"You don't mean that."
"Do too; we're in public," she reasoned and Draco smirked.
"So I'll obliviate them before we leave," he said, placing a few tiny kisses on her skin. Hermione sighed.
"That's preposterous, Draco. Besides, we'll get in trouble," she said, shrugging him off, and Draco laughed.
"Since when has that ever changed your plans?" he asked, again sucking. Hermione sighed and pushed back roughly, but turned around and grabbed the front of his shirt as if afraid he'd fall. Like the last time she'd pushed him. Realizing her stupidity, Hermione let go, turning back around.
"Knock it off," she said, ignoring the smirk on his face. Draco sighed.
"Fine, fine... I'm sorry."
"Miss Granger! I'm open over here!" called an unfamiliar voice, and both Draco and Hermione turned to look a few registers down where an old man was flailing his arms. Hermione grinned and started to back out of line.
"Come on, Draco," she said, rushing to the old man's counter. Draco was a bit confused, but followed just the same.
"Hi, Mr. McNair!" Hermione said in out-of-character cheerfulness, leaning across the counter to kiss the old man's cheek. "How's Margarite?" she asked as she began to put the groceries on the conveyer belt. A box of four hamburgers, one bag of pre-cut lettuce, a box of rice, one bottle of Italian dressing, a 12-pack box of soda, frozen chicken chunks, half a dozen eggs, peanut butter, bread, milk, her ice cream and a box of Lucky Charms. As well as the tabloids, of course. Mr. McNair smiled as he started to ring her up. Draco came up behind just as he answered her question.
"Quite well, quite well. Depressed about winter, but all in all, alright. I thought you were supposed to be at school?" Hermione grinned. She couldn't tell Mr. McNair she'd been suspended! What would he think?
"Just visiting," she explained and he raised an eyebrow.
"Since when do you visit your parents?" Hermione laughed.
"Never. They're not even home... I'm visiting... Froth," she said, sending Draco a glance, and he grinned. Mr. McNair made a sour face.
"I thought I told you to stay away from those boys, Mina. They're no good, rotten, punks." Hermione laughed.
"Yeah, well, so am I." He laughed. "I'm not exactly crawling back, sir. This is my boyfriend, Draco," she said, gesturing to Draco, then turning to him. "Mr. McNair." Draco looked up at the old man, who eyed him curiously. He nodded in acknowledgement.
"Sir." McNair grinned.
"He's a good one, Mina. Better than that Foam or whatever you call him. I'd hold on to this one," he said and Draco raised an eyebrow. Hermione laughed.
"Planning on it. How much?" she asked digging in her pocket for the cash she'd pawned from Alfie. McNair smiled.
"That'll be..."
"Let me, Mya," Draco cut in, reaching in his back pocket for his wallet, but Hermione stopped him before he could do anything stupid.
"Draco," she warned. "You don't have any money, remember?" she said and he furrowed his eyebrows at her.
"What are you talking about, of course... I..." he started, but caught her hint and stopped. "Right... other wallet," Hermione smiled and nodded extravagantly, then turned back to McNair, who was smiling that kooky old- man-smile that scared little children.
"£32.50, Miss Granger," he said and Hermione grinned, pulling apart the bills. She handed him the money and he smiled.
"Can I borrow this cart, Mr. McNair? I promise to bring it back," she said, smiling innocently, and McNair grinned.
"Since when have I said no?" Hermione showed her teeth.
"Thank you," she said, taking her change.
"It was nice seeing you again, Mina. Take care at that school of yours. You be looking out for her," McNair said, pointedly looking at Draco, who smirked.
"I'm sure that won't be a problem," he said and Hermione smiled, shaking her head, and started toward the exit, waving to McNair as she passed through the doors. "Who was that guy?"
"Mr. McNair."
"Gathered. Elaboration required." Hermione laughed.
"I shop there a lot," she said, shrugging. "And he's the librarian." Draco rolled his eyes.
"THAT explains it," he said and she smiled. "Who's Margarite?"
"His wife."
"I see. How does he know about your boyfriend?" he asked and Hermione looked innocently at him.
"I just introduced you," she said, stating the obvious, and Draco smiled.
"You know what I meant."
"Both he and his brother have repeatedly come to the library in search of me, and have repeatedly been kicked out. I practically lived at the library, so McNair and I kind of became... friends, I guess... although that's weird, because he's like 65. He doesn't like Froth... kind of holds a grudge, I guess... so it's all good. He just doesn't want me to get hurt again. But hey, he approved of you, right?" she said, grinning and looking to him as she waited for an appropriate time to cross the road. Draco frowned. Of everything she'd said, it was one word that bothered him. Again.
"What do you mean, hurt again?" Hermione frowned. She felt a tickle of panic. Should she tell him? This didn't seem the right time, but...
"I told you the story. He dumped me because his brother is a man-whore. That stung a little," she said, smiling again, and Draco looked unconvinced.
"Are you sure?" She tilted her head and nodded.
"Stop worrying, it's creepy," she said in the voice a mother would use to calm a toddler and Draco raised an eyebrow. "Come, we can cross now."
~*~*~*~
"Looks like we're eating out of cups... plates seem impractical," Hermione said as she rummaged through the cupboards, looking for bowls. She found one, but it was broken in half and glued back together, the hard orange adhesive bubbling out into the inside. With a sigh, she pulled down two large-mouth plastic cups; the kind her mother used when she had 'a headache' and needed 'a little drink'. While Draco watched, she poured them each a glass of Lucky Charms, added milk, and shoved one toward him, holding out a spoon. Hesitantly, Draco took it, sitting down at the kitchen table. Hermione smirked and sat down beside him, pushing her chair back and bringing her knees to rest against the table, the cup on her stomach. She grinned at the contents, then plunged in her spoon and took a big bite, savoring the taste of muggle breakfast. Why was cereal unheard of in the wizarding world? She could live off cereal. Cereal and pancakes... and pizza. Wizard food be damned.
Draco watched her with a slight look of disgust on his face, then turned back to his cup and started in. Although he didn't mind the food... liked it, even... he kept that hint of disgust on his face.
"What?" Hermione asked, wiping a drop of milk from her lip with an already moist thumb. "The muggle in the meal won't kill you, promise," she said and Draco narrowed his eyes, mocking a laugh.
"Har, har."
"Well, what then? You can NOT tell me you don't like it," she said, dropping her knees and sitting up, looking astounded and wide-eyed. Draco shook his head.
"No, I do... I'm just thinking."
"Oh," Hermione said, grinning. "Maybe I can help. What about?" she asked, taking another bite. Draco looked curiously at her.
"I'm trying to figure out if you're hiding something from me," he said and Hermione gasped, causing the cereal in her mouth to choke her. Draco sat up as she coughed. "Okay?" he asked, reaching a hand to her, and Hermione nodded, touching her neck lightly with her fingertips.
"Hiding something?" she asked in a slightly high-pitched tone, then cleared her throat, trying to sound convincing. "Why would I be hiding something?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"That's it. Now I'm positive," he said. "You ARE hiding something." Hermione shook her head furiously, turning back to her slightly soggy Lucky Charms and prodding them with her spoon.
"That's preposterous," she said, but Draco didn't believe a word.
"Don't lie to me," he said in a surprised and slightly hurt tone. Hermione set her cup on the table and dropped her spoon, bringing her hands to her forehead.
"Draco, please... don't do this," she whispered, covering her face with her hands.
"Tell me," he said. She said nothing, taking a slightly ragged breath. "Tell me, Hermione."
"Draco..."
"Hermione," he growled, looking at her with narrowed eyes. Hermione turned slightly away from him.
"You're scaring me," she said softly, voice shaky, and Draco's face softened as he leaned toward her, placing a hand on her back.
"Hey," he said and she sniffled, crossing her arms on the table in front of her, eyes closed. "Look at me," Draco said gently and Hermione turned her head, but didn't lift her lids. Draco placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Look at me." It was more a plea than a demand. Hermione fluttered open her eyes and let Draco look intensely into them. "You can trust me, Hermione. I would never do anything to hurt you," he said, shaking his head. Hermione looked down.
"I know, Draco... I just... I just..." she started, squinting her eyes shut. Draco sighed.
"Okay, I'm sorry. You don't have to say anything, Mya. I understand," he said rubbing his hand over her back and resting his forehead on her shoulder. Hermione sighed in what could be called relief. "I just wish you'd confide in me a little," he ended, kissing her covered shoulder. Draco leaned back and polished off his cereal in a few bites, chugging the milk left below. Hermione sat silently, head down with eyes closed, face turned away from him. It hurt her that she couldn't tell, couldn't he see that?
When he was finished, Draco stood and placed his glass in the sink, spoon poking out the top. He leaned close to Hermione's ear.
"Just leave yours in the sink. I'll do the dishes after dinner, to make up for this," he said, kissed her cheek softly, and exited the kitchen, leaving Hermione to place her head in her arms and have a good long talk with herself. Results not typical.
~*~
A/N: Whatever could Hermione be hiding? Hm... I suppose we shall find out soon. Sorry for the delay, I've been busy I guess. There's a new story if you haven't seen, it's called Falling in Love when You're Ten or FLYT (flight) lol. Check it out.
Last time on LGG:
"Who's that?"
"Froth. Oh, and look, Lance too... reunion time," she said as a taller brunette followed him down the steps, both getting into their rusty station wagon. Hermione waited until they drove a good distance away before she stepped back out from behind the tree, pulling Draco behind her.
"Well, that was... interesting."
"Good looking guys, aren't they?" Hermione asked sarcastically and Draco laughed.
"I wasn't going to say anything...but..." Hermione grinned.
"I vote we... I don't know, burn all their clothes or something," she suggested. "Something small to start with, just to give them warning."
"That's good... if they're wearing them."
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER TWENTYSIX: Offending Nun
Once Froth and Lance were far, far away from that oak tree, Hermione stepped out, frowning, and started down the street again. Draco sighed and followed her.
"Hey... you okay?" he asked, coming up behind her and having little trouble kissing her neck; she was walking quite slowly. Hermione gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Yep, I'm just fiiiine," she said and Draco smiled against her skin.
"We'll get them, don't worry," he assured in her ear and Hermione laughed.
"That's what you said about Harry and Ron," she said, crossing her arms and halting, annoyed with the awkward way they were walking.
"Yeah, and I meant it. We will... which reminds me, what was that potion you were working on in CMC last class?" Draco asked, whispering as to be safe, and Hermione smiled.
"I forgot about that too. It's in the dorm, though... so it's safe. I made a counter-blemish potion." Draco raised his eyebrow and Hermione laughed. "That whole no-magic-over-the-summer thing assures me that they won't come back with girlfriends... although I don't really care, but that's not the point. With exception of this year, Harry, Ron, and I all meet up at a scheduled point so that I can give them a blemish potion to get rid of their... skin... DISEASE, I guess you could say. We wait until it takes effect, then get on the train. They won't go anywhere until I help them... of course, Ginny and I are the only ones who know about this little secret, but she understands that it's a very delicate matter that cannot be helped, and doesn't tell. I, on the other hand, don't give a shit about them, so, I'm purposely slipping my secret to the whole school... and I'm sure it'll take them a while to brew another potion, considering they've never done it before, and they're not the brightest of people."
"Did you notice that all of your plans have something to do with their appearances and popularity?" he asked, smirking, and Hermione nodded.
"That's the key to revenge. You've gotta find a weakness. Harry and Ron's weakness is that they cease to function if not horded by girls. So what do I do, naturally? Get rid of the girls," she explained and he shook his head.
"You never cease to amaze me, Mya," Draco said, kissing her neck softly. Hermione turned around to face him, her smile replaced.
"I feel a whole lot better now," she stated and Draco laughed, giving her a tiny kiss.
"Thought you might. So, what about your Garbage Pickers over there," he asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to the house of Froth and Lance. Hermione smirked.
"Always pillage before you burn," she said and Draco, impressed, raised an eyebrow. "First blackmail, then scorch."
"You've got dirt, I presume?" Hermione grinned and nodded, taking his hand and again starting for the supermarket.
"Of course. Froth talks in his sleep... and it's usually about little bunny foo-foo and 'no miss fairy, don't hurt my wabbi!'... Lance has two webbed toes on each foot... I once found Froth trying on my clothes... Lance asked me to marry him once when he was drunk... oh, god... drunk. There's a gold mine right there. I think we could work with that," she said, laughing and shaking her head. Draco grinned.
"You're getting good at this revenge thing, aren't you?" Hermione smiled.
"Oh, indeed. Hm... well, continuing on... Froth is about as incompetent as they come. I'll have you know, we've slept together once, but it would have been more, could he get that tadpole at attention. When you don't turn on a guy who looks like that, you know there's a problem somewhere," she said, frowning, and Draco smiled. He leaned close to her ear.
"You turn me on," he said in a seductive whisper, causing Hermione to smile again. She looked up at him.
"I know... look, I'm upgrading. And hey, at least you won't have to worry about any ex-boyfriends coming back and taking me away. Hell if I'd resist kicking him where it counts," she said, turning to glare at the house, which was now a good hundred feet in their wake. "But me, on the other hand," Hermione said, turning back and smiling. Draco smiled.
"Never," he assured, and Hermione grinned, leading him to the edge of the sidewalk. "What are we doing?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too pathetically stupid. Hermione simply smiled.
"Crossing the street, Drakey," she said, waiting for a big rig to go by, then hurrying across the street, holding Draco's hand.
"Right..."
"The market is over here. You want breakfast, don't you?" she said smartly, not stopping once she got to the other side. "It's just around the corner." Sighing and grumbling something about male stereotypes, Draco followed.
~*~*~*~
"Okay. Well, go ahead and pick whatever you want... we're only here for five or six meals anyway... I'm not making anything huge," Hermione said as she pushed a creaky cart through the halls of the tiny town shopping center. Wick's Mini Mart. Draco followed, looking around at the strange set up of food.
"I don't understand this place," Draco said as Hermione tossed a jar of peanut butter in the cart. She laughed.
"We pick food. We buy food. We eat food. What's there not to understand?" she asked, continuing down an isle.
"Yeah... but, there's all this stuff, right here... couldn't someone just come in, eat, and leave without anyone knowing?" he asked stupidly, picking up a box of rice and turning it over to view the other side. Hermione laughed and grabbed it from him, throwing it into the cart.
"No, Drakey," she said, nodding toward the big black eye that watched them as they wound through the aisles. Draco looked up at the mirrored surface, but didn't understand.
"What's that?"
"Surveillance camera. It's watching us... if we just started opening stuff and chowing down, we'd have guards on our tails in minutes. Do you prefer ranch dressing or Italian?" Draco looked blankly at her, and Hermione looked at him encouragingly, holding up the two bottles. When he said nothing, she smiled. "Italian it is then. Good choice," she said picking her bottle and continuing down the isle. Draco shook his head and followed.
"Stupid muggles; this is ridiculous," he said, again looking around. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Keep your voice down?" she suggested, giving him a look and Draco sighed. "And I don't know what you're talking about. Wizards have grocery stores too."
"Bull," he said, looking disbelievingly, and Hermione shrugged.
"Doubt it, but that's what it says," she said, tossing a small box of processed hamburgers into the cart.
"We do NOT have facilities such as this. It's preposterous," Draco repeated, ignoring her side remark. Hermione stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Yes, you do."
"Do not!"
"Must you be so juvenile?"
"How come I've never seen one, then?"
"Because, you, Draco, are a pretty little rich boy, and your house elves do all your shopping," she said sharply, turning back around, annoyed by the stupidity of the conversation at dispense.
"Pa-lease... you're not going to pound me with all that 'house elves should be banned' crap, are you? I thought you were over that," Draco said, pleadingly, and Hermione sighed.
"No, of course not, I'm just pointing out the obvious. Your elves DO do all your shopping."
"True, but it's not like I'm shut indoors all day. There IS a town that I DO occasionally venture to. Why haven't I seen one?" Draco asked, determined to be right in this dispute, however immature it would make him sound.
"I don't know! I'm a mudblood, remember? THIS is MY supermarket. I've never been to a wizard one either, I don't know how it works," she said exasperatedly, slamming another item into her cart. Draco flinched slightly at the name she'd used to acknowledge herself.
"Mya..." he started, not sure if he should apologize, or hug her, maybe... Hermione shook her head.
"Forget it, Draco," she said, somewhat sadly. Draco was silent for a moment, then, still frowning, continued with their argument. It was less awkward than talking about mudbloods.
"How do you know they even exist if you've never been to one?" Hermione smirked.
"Again, you forget who I am, Drakey. I am Hermione Granger. I have spent probably 99% of my time not spent in class in the library. How do you think I know?"
"Okay, okay, you win... I give up," Draco said, sighing, and Hermione smiled triumphantly.
"That's a first."
"Maybe."
"Hm.... oh, one more thing, then I think we're done. We'll probably be throwing half this out later anyway," Hermione said, turning toward the freezer section. More specifically, the ice cream section. "Not allergic to anything, are you?"
"Not that I know of," Draco said, bored with the shopping experience. Hermione grinned.
"Good," she said and extracted one half gallon of Death by Chocolate ice cream, a lustful look in her eye. "Come Drakey, to the checkout," she said, smiling at him, and Draco returned it weakly, following her to the line. Once at the register, Hermione picked up one of every tabloid she could find and added them to her cart, then parked it behind an elderly nun, who smiled at the couple, although a little as if she didn't like them. Draco raised an eyebrow at her, but Hermione didn't pay any mind, flipping through one of the tabloids and starting into a story concerning Bat Boy and the president. Gotta love Bat Boy.
With a smirk, Draco stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her middle and resting his chin on her shoulder. Hermione smiled and looked suspiciously up at him and he pulled back far enough to give her a kiss on the lips, then squeezed her as she shrugged, turning back to her tabloid. The nun downright glared.
This only made Draco's smirk grow. Interested in annoying the old woman, he began kissing behind Hermione's ear, making her smile, then moved down her neck, gently sucking a hickey into her soft skin. She stopped reading and closed her eyes, enjoying his caress. The nun's mouth dropped in shock, then she huffed and turned around. Draco laughed and Hermione opened her eyes. He started again on her neck, but she turned her head, eyebrow raised.
"Did you do that to piss of that nun?" she asked in whisper, suspicious, and Draco mocked innocent.
"Partially," he whispered back and Hermione shook her head, turning forward again. Draco grinned and started again with the sucking.
"Stop," she snapped, folding her magazine and placing it back in the pile, then crossing her arms. Draco pouted.
"You don't mean that."
"Do too; we're in public," she reasoned and Draco smirked.
"So I'll obliviate them before we leave," he said, placing a few tiny kisses on her skin. Hermione sighed.
"That's preposterous, Draco. Besides, we'll get in trouble," she said, shrugging him off, and Draco laughed.
"Since when has that ever changed your plans?" he asked, again sucking. Hermione sighed and pushed back roughly, but turned around and grabbed the front of his shirt as if afraid he'd fall. Like the last time she'd pushed him. Realizing her stupidity, Hermione let go, turning back around.
"Knock it off," she said, ignoring the smirk on his face. Draco sighed.
"Fine, fine... I'm sorry."
"Miss Granger! I'm open over here!" called an unfamiliar voice, and both Draco and Hermione turned to look a few registers down where an old man was flailing his arms. Hermione grinned and started to back out of line.
"Come on, Draco," she said, rushing to the old man's counter. Draco was a bit confused, but followed just the same.
"Hi, Mr. McNair!" Hermione said in out-of-character cheerfulness, leaning across the counter to kiss the old man's cheek. "How's Margarite?" she asked as she began to put the groceries on the conveyer belt. A box of four hamburgers, one bag of pre-cut lettuce, a box of rice, one bottle of Italian dressing, a 12-pack box of soda, frozen chicken chunks, half a dozen eggs, peanut butter, bread, milk, her ice cream and a box of Lucky Charms. As well as the tabloids, of course. Mr. McNair smiled as he started to ring her up. Draco came up behind just as he answered her question.
"Quite well, quite well. Depressed about winter, but all in all, alright. I thought you were supposed to be at school?" Hermione grinned. She couldn't tell Mr. McNair she'd been suspended! What would he think?
"Just visiting," she explained and he raised an eyebrow.
"Since when do you visit your parents?" Hermione laughed.
"Never. They're not even home... I'm visiting... Froth," she said, sending Draco a glance, and he grinned. Mr. McNair made a sour face.
"I thought I told you to stay away from those boys, Mina. They're no good, rotten, punks." Hermione laughed.
"Yeah, well, so am I." He laughed. "I'm not exactly crawling back, sir. This is my boyfriend, Draco," she said, gesturing to Draco, then turning to him. "Mr. McNair." Draco looked up at the old man, who eyed him curiously. He nodded in acknowledgement.
"Sir." McNair grinned.
"He's a good one, Mina. Better than that Foam or whatever you call him. I'd hold on to this one," he said and Draco raised an eyebrow. Hermione laughed.
"Planning on it. How much?" she asked digging in her pocket for the cash she'd pawned from Alfie. McNair smiled.
"That'll be..."
"Let me, Mya," Draco cut in, reaching in his back pocket for his wallet, but Hermione stopped him before he could do anything stupid.
"Draco," she warned. "You don't have any money, remember?" she said and he furrowed his eyebrows at her.
"What are you talking about, of course... I..." he started, but caught her hint and stopped. "Right... other wallet," Hermione smiled and nodded extravagantly, then turned back to McNair, who was smiling that kooky old- man-smile that scared little children.
"£32.50, Miss Granger," he said and Hermione grinned, pulling apart the bills. She handed him the money and he smiled.
"Can I borrow this cart, Mr. McNair? I promise to bring it back," she said, smiling innocently, and McNair grinned.
"Since when have I said no?" Hermione showed her teeth.
"Thank you," she said, taking her change.
"It was nice seeing you again, Mina. Take care at that school of yours. You be looking out for her," McNair said, pointedly looking at Draco, who smirked.
"I'm sure that won't be a problem," he said and Hermione smiled, shaking her head, and started toward the exit, waving to McNair as she passed through the doors. "Who was that guy?"
"Mr. McNair."
"Gathered. Elaboration required." Hermione laughed.
"I shop there a lot," she said, shrugging. "And he's the librarian." Draco rolled his eyes.
"THAT explains it," he said and she smiled. "Who's Margarite?"
"His wife."
"I see. How does he know about your boyfriend?" he asked and Hermione looked innocently at him.
"I just introduced you," she said, stating the obvious, and Draco smiled.
"You know what I meant."
"Both he and his brother have repeatedly come to the library in search of me, and have repeatedly been kicked out. I practically lived at the library, so McNair and I kind of became... friends, I guess... although that's weird, because he's like 65. He doesn't like Froth... kind of holds a grudge, I guess... so it's all good. He just doesn't want me to get hurt again. But hey, he approved of you, right?" she said, grinning and looking to him as she waited for an appropriate time to cross the road. Draco frowned. Of everything she'd said, it was one word that bothered him. Again.
"What do you mean, hurt again?" Hermione frowned. She felt a tickle of panic. Should she tell him? This didn't seem the right time, but...
"I told you the story. He dumped me because his brother is a man-whore. That stung a little," she said, smiling again, and Draco looked unconvinced.
"Are you sure?" She tilted her head and nodded.
"Stop worrying, it's creepy," she said in the voice a mother would use to calm a toddler and Draco raised an eyebrow. "Come, we can cross now."
~*~*~*~
"Looks like we're eating out of cups... plates seem impractical," Hermione said as she rummaged through the cupboards, looking for bowls. She found one, but it was broken in half and glued back together, the hard orange adhesive bubbling out into the inside. With a sigh, she pulled down two large-mouth plastic cups; the kind her mother used when she had 'a headache' and needed 'a little drink'. While Draco watched, she poured them each a glass of Lucky Charms, added milk, and shoved one toward him, holding out a spoon. Hesitantly, Draco took it, sitting down at the kitchen table. Hermione smirked and sat down beside him, pushing her chair back and bringing her knees to rest against the table, the cup on her stomach. She grinned at the contents, then plunged in her spoon and took a big bite, savoring the taste of muggle breakfast. Why was cereal unheard of in the wizarding world? She could live off cereal. Cereal and pancakes... and pizza. Wizard food be damned.
Draco watched her with a slight look of disgust on his face, then turned back to his cup and started in. Although he didn't mind the food... liked it, even... he kept that hint of disgust on his face.
"What?" Hermione asked, wiping a drop of milk from her lip with an already moist thumb. "The muggle in the meal won't kill you, promise," she said and Draco narrowed his eyes, mocking a laugh.
"Har, har."
"Well, what then? You can NOT tell me you don't like it," she said, dropping her knees and sitting up, looking astounded and wide-eyed. Draco shook his head.
"No, I do... I'm just thinking."
"Oh," Hermione said, grinning. "Maybe I can help. What about?" she asked, taking another bite. Draco looked curiously at her.
"I'm trying to figure out if you're hiding something from me," he said and Hermione gasped, causing the cereal in her mouth to choke her. Draco sat up as she coughed. "Okay?" he asked, reaching a hand to her, and Hermione nodded, touching her neck lightly with her fingertips.
"Hiding something?" she asked in a slightly high-pitched tone, then cleared her throat, trying to sound convincing. "Why would I be hiding something?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"That's it. Now I'm positive," he said. "You ARE hiding something." Hermione shook her head furiously, turning back to her slightly soggy Lucky Charms and prodding them with her spoon.
"That's preposterous," she said, but Draco didn't believe a word.
"Don't lie to me," he said in a surprised and slightly hurt tone. Hermione set her cup on the table and dropped her spoon, bringing her hands to her forehead.
"Draco, please... don't do this," she whispered, covering her face with her hands.
"Tell me," he said. She said nothing, taking a slightly ragged breath. "Tell me, Hermione."
"Draco..."
"Hermione," he growled, looking at her with narrowed eyes. Hermione turned slightly away from him.
"You're scaring me," she said softly, voice shaky, and Draco's face softened as he leaned toward her, placing a hand on her back.
"Hey," he said and she sniffled, crossing her arms on the table in front of her, eyes closed. "Look at me," Draco said gently and Hermione turned her head, but didn't lift her lids. Draco placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Look at me." It was more a plea than a demand. Hermione fluttered open her eyes and let Draco look intensely into them. "You can trust me, Hermione. I would never do anything to hurt you," he said, shaking his head. Hermione looked down.
"I know, Draco... I just... I just..." she started, squinting her eyes shut. Draco sighed.
"Okay, I'm sorry. You don't have to say anything, Mya. I understand," he said rubbing his hand over her back and resting his forehead on her shoulder. Hermione sighed in what could be called relief. "I just wish you'd confide in me a little," he ended, kissing her covered shoulder. Draco leaned back and polished off his cereal in a few bites, chugging the milk left below. Hermione sat silently, head down with eyes closed, face turned away from him. It hurt her that she couldn't tell, couldn't he see that?
When he was finished, Draco stood and placed his glass in the sink, spoon poking out the top. He leaned close to Hermione's ear.
"Just leave yours in the sink. I'll do the dishes after dinner, to make up for this," he said, kissed her cheek softly, and exited the kitchen, leaving Hermione to place her head in her arms and have a good long talk with herself. Results not typical.
~*~
A/N: Whatever could Hermione be hiding? Hm... I suppose we shall find out soon. Sorry for the delay, I've been busy I guess. There's a new story if you haven't seen, it's called Falling in Love when You're Ten or FLYT (flight) lol. Check it out.