Chapter Eight
The Worst Reunion
"Look at that peacock, strutting about. Doesn't he know there is a man hunt going on for him and where's Snape," Fred said incrediously. He and Hermione were standing by the punch bowl, both watching the rich pureblood banter with the guests at the party in what seemed like forced merriment.
"His ego is larger than his brain," Hermione told him knowingly, "As for Snape, I haven't an idea."
"He's going to get himself caught," Fred said with maliscious glee.
"It would be better if he led us to Snape and Lucius first," Hermione replied.
"I better go smooze Mrs. Henderson," Fred said with trepidation and he gave Hermione a soft smile.
"Don't get into trouble," He said and she feigned innocence.
"Me?"
He laughed and tweeked her nose before departing.
As Hermione watched Fred make his way through the crowd, she began to feel awkward. She'd never been a social butterfly, but she usually didn't care or notice until she was in a situation like the one she found herself in. She poured herself a glass of punch and sipped it as her eyes travelled the room before settling on the blonde man who was surrounded by a group of wizards. She quickly came to the conclusion that Draco was important to their mission, she had to figure out how to use him to their advantage.
For the rest of the evening, Hermione kept her eye on Draco and as she observed him she began to feel almost sorry for him. He obviously had something the matter with him. He talked loud and boisterously, and kept having the servers bring him drinks. Here was someone who had given up on everything, because he was being so careless.
The band was starting into their third song and Draco was already on his eighth alcoholic beverage of the evening, when Fred made his way back over to Hermione.
"Having fun," He quipped, when he noticed the nearly blank concentrated look on her face.
She started and looked up at him hazily, "Shhh, he's speaking to that gentleman about his family," She said before her eyes snapped back to the silvery haired boy who'd just said, "What a woman my mum is," in a drunken roar. Fred was taken aback by Hermione's intense scrutiny of Malfoy, as well as Malfoy's lack of control.
"He's really putting it on," He said and Hermione nodded mutely.
"Well, I guess I'll meet you in our room after the party," Fred said and Hermione nodded again, still not speaking. Fred shook his head to himself and left.
Hermione waited like a hawk, watching as Draco consumed more alcohol than she thought was humanly possible, and tried to carry on a decent conversation with anyone that came within his radius. Finally when Draco was having problems standing Hermione made her move.
"Draco, let me take you to your room," Hermione butted in suddenly, taking Draco's arm and trying to drag him away.
"Granger," Draco slurred pleasantly and he surprisingly let her lead him off towards the lifts.
Draco didn't say much as Hermione shoved him into the hall and pushed the up button.
"What floor are you on?" Hermione asked and Draco handed her his key without saying anything, he seemed to be concentrating bleerily on his shoes.
The doors slid open and Hermione drug Draco into the lift and pushed the four. As they began to move up Hermione noticed that Draco was looking decidedly green.
"Are you ok, Malfoy?" She had barely asked, when he leaned over and vomited all over the floor and his shiny black shoes.
Sighing, Hermione pulled her wand from her dress and cleaned up the mess quickly.
"You really shouldn't drink like that," She told him and he raised his head to glare at her, just as the lift came to a stop and the doors opened.
"You really should learn to keep your nose out of other people's business," He said in a shrill voice that reminded her of when he was a snotty little boy, which made her chuckle.
"But then I would miss out on this beautiful break-down of yours. Besides, if I'd have left you with those wonderful people you had surrounded yourself with, you'd have spilled more of your guts and made more of an idiot of yourself than you already have."
"Wouldn't matter much," Draco muttered as he staggered past her and into the hall.
Hermione followed after him, caught between wanting to chide him, and wanting to laugh at his sorry self.
Arriving at his door, Draco leaned against the wall, breathing heavier than was required, as Hermione swiped the key and opened the door.
"After you," Hermione said holding the door open and trying to support Draco by grasping his arm.
"You were always after me," Draco said haughtily as he yanked his arm from her grasp and stumbled into the room under his own power.
He didn't sit on the bed, as Hermione thought he would, he leaned against the wall and let himself slide down to the floor instead. She sighed and shut his door following him into the dimly lit room.
"I've done some terrible things, Granger. Things that would make you sick to your stomach," Draco told her sounding almost sober, except when he hiccuped at the end.
"Why?" Hermione asked as Draco burried his head in his hands.
She leaned over, her long brown hair brushing his fore arms. He wouldn't look at her, even with her hovering over him.
"I didn't have a choice."
Hermione broke into deversive laughter and shook her head at the pathetic boy in front of her. She straightened and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Everyone always has a choice, Malfoy," She said bitingly and she saw a shiver pass through him.
He finally looked up at her, his eyes red from unshed tears and liquor. She wouldn't have recognized him as the boy she'd hated for so many years.
"What would you have me do, Granger? Sell out. My mother would have been killed the instant I said a word," Draco said and Hermione was taken aback.
"Dumbledore would have helped," She said quitely, once more taking a seat on the hotel chair.
"It was too late," Draco said and then he sneered at her, "What's done is done."
"For once you're right. I see you're coping well," Hermione said mockingly.
"Get out."
"As much as I'd love to leave you to self-detruct, I can't," Hermione said and he fixed her with his bloodshot eyes.
"Your foolish compassion."
"Perhaps," Hermione said and she got up and slid down the wall to sit beside him. "Do you know where your father is, Draco?"
"Funny, I thought this was all about me," Draco said bitterly and she silenced him with a serious look, "Why would that interest you?"
She wouldn't answer him, she kept her chin tilted up and she was staring at the wall across from her. Draco studied her face, since she wouldn't look at him.
"You're working for the Ministry!" Draco said with almost a kind laugh and he bumped his shoulder into Hermione's to make her pay attention to him. Her head whipped towards him and surprisingly her lip curled.
"No."
"I figured you'd be in the thick of that group. So, not the Ministry. Personal interest? No, you're not the vengeful type. Somehow I feel you're working for someone and it's got to do with Saint Potter," Draco spit out Harry's name with vile intent.
Hermione didn't accept or deny his claim, she just sat there quietly studying him through her long lashes.
"He's obviously hidden well," Draco said at last and Hermione looked puzzled.
"What? You don't know where he is?"
"I don't know the exact location. I'm not his keeper. But I know who is," Draco said he was talking softly, so Hermione had to lean a bit closer to hear him.
She waited for him to say something else, but he just stared at her blankly.Hermione sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. She tapped her foot rhythmically, which would have annoyed Malfoy, but the sound was muffled by the carpet.
"Mrs. Henderson?" Hermione guessed after a moment her leg stopping in mid-tap.
Draco smirked at nothing particular and she could see it out of the corner of her eye.
"What do you find so amusing," She questioned indignately.
"You've always been so clever," Draco said and shook his head.
"Thank you."
She rose suddenly, using the wall to get to her feet. She thought about putting a hand out for the boy on the floor, he was after all looking at her, but she thought better of it. He was still intoxicated, because he was giving her the goofiest smile she'd ever seen anyone wear, and it was especially out of place on his normally cold features.
"I know you're drunk, but this is the nicest conversation we've ever had," She said,"Maybe you should try being less of a prick, it works wonders for your personality."
With her clever closing line delivered, Hermione turned and fled the hotel room. For a moment she had felt very sorry for Draco. He was, after all, a human being. Now that she was out of that room, her feelings of dislike didn't return like she thought would, but it didn't matter. She was on a mission and now it had some direction.
She walked to the lift and got in. As she rode it down, she once again tapped her foot, she didn't realize it, but it was to the beat of a song that Fred had been listening to earlier that day. He'd brought a portable WWR (Wizarding Wireless Radio) and had been playing it rather loudly. He'd lit up like a Christmas tree when a certain song had come on. Hermione couldn't rememeber who it was by, or what it was called, but the beat was stuck in her mind.
She shook her head as the lift doors opened on her floor. She dug in the front of her dress, where she'd stashed several items, and pulled out her room key, waving it over the door, she turned the handle and went in. The lights were off and she realized just how long she'd been off with Draco. She saw the alarm clock display reading one twenty-one in the morning.
She slipped out of her shoes as quietly as possible and walked further into the room. Her feet were killing her and she walked gingerly towards the bed where she could Fred sleeping. Hermione smirked in the dark, and ran towards the bed. With a leap she landed atop Fred's legs and he bolted upright nearly knocking her onto the floor.
"H..huh?" He wuffled, tiredly.
"Fred, Fred!" Hermione said as she slid to the side of the bed, and off the Weasley's legs and started bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Hey, hey little sister. Isn't it past my bedtime?" Fred said jokingly sitting up fully and raising an eyebrow at Hermione.
"Sorry. I just got done interigating Malfoy. Besides finding out that he's one screwed up little boy, I found out that Lucius has a secret keeper," Hermione said, calmer than she had been before.
Fred smiled at the girl in front of him, she wasn't the complete failure she kept saying she was.
"Let me guess. Our dear Mrs. Henderson," He said he leaned forward and planted a kiss on Hermione's nose and she laughed.
"Exactly!" She was still dressed in her costume and she got up to go change.
"Did anyone tell you how beautiful you looked tonight," Fred asked a Hermione dug in her bag and she stopped and turned, her face flushing bright red.
"No," She said skeptically.
"Good, because I want to be the only one who does," Fred said and he smiled at her. She couldn't help the smile that plastered her face as she headed into the bathroom, her pajamas clutched to her chest.
Hermione had been rocking back and forth on her heels waiting for Fred to make his appearance in the lobby. He'd been summoned to Mrs. Henderson's office early that morning about something that seemed urgent enough for there to be a summons in the first place. Whatever it was Hermione was annoyed that it was taking so long for him to meet her.
That's how Draco found her, staring at a picture on the wall and angrily grinding her teeth.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to clutter the halls with your disgusting appearance?"
"Yes. By the same person who is wasting the air they breath right at this moment," Hermione said not in the mood to deal with Draco, but she turned to face him anyway.
She was prepared to fight, he saw it immediately, but forged ahead because he'd never backed down before.
"You didn't think I'd remember our conversation last night. Did you?" Draco asked, his face was blank and his eyes cold.
Hermione watched him wearily, remembering not for the first time, just how tall and muscular Malfoy had become.
"I may have hoped," Hermione admitted and Draco sneered at her.
"I can hold my liquor better than you know," Draco said darkly.
Hermione didn't know what to say to that. She sat stood her arms crossed over her chest and stared Malfoy down, hoping he'd just leave.
"Look, Granger. I'm not talking to you to make you feel guilty, or to threaten you to keep silent about what I told you. The truth is talking to you helped me. I know you hate me, but you are the only person to ever sit and listen to me, even though I'm sure you wanted to curse me into oblivion for being involved in the plot to kill your precious Headmaster."
Hermione's eyebrows rose in question, she was taken aback and stayed silent as a thousand thoughts whirling in her mind.
"I'm grateful to you, don't you see? A mudblood! I should be ashamed, but strangely I'm not," Draco rambled angrily. He seemed to be trying to find something to blame Hermione for.
"Draco, be quiet. Why are you doing this? I'd rather not be dragged into your life," Hermione said in an agravated tone and he finally met her eyes. To be honest, Hermione had always thought his eyes were beautiful, not that she'd admit it. As she looked into them, she felt like she was caught in a storm. A storm of trouble, and doubt.
In the next moment, as if in a dream, Hermione saw Draco coming towards her. He stopped right in front of her, and seemed about to say something, but promptly shut his mouth again. Hermione found it ironic, this was the first time she'd seen him at a loss for words. Draco grasped Hermione's face in his hand and he saw her pupils dilate in undisguised worry, not fear, because she was confused by his actions. He dipped his head and brushed her lips with his own. Hermione involuntarily shut her eyes, when she opened them, Draco was gone.
"Good morning," Fred whispered into Hermione's ear has he caught up with her. He gave her hand a quick squeeze before moving off to speak with hold the dining room door open for Mrs. Henderson who was ushering along some other guests.
Surprisingly, Fred sat with Hermione at breakfast, but she was frustrated by the proximity of the other guests. She wanted to talk to Fred alone and tell him how annoyingly stupid Malfoy was, and how he'd forced his attentions onto her, but as long as they were with company she had to keep her lips sealed, even when Draco shot her a smoldering look from down the table that made her want to hurl sharp objects at his head.
"Mrs. Henderson has asked a favor of me," Fred said as he buttered a roll and Hermione nodded watching his actions. "She wants me to get rid of a boggart that got into a wardrobe on the fifth floor. She's bringing it down after lunch for me to work my magic."
"Should be simple enough," Hermione said now turning her attention to her own toast.
"It would be, if I didn't know what I'm afraid of and I know those fears would be a bad thing for Mrs. Henderson to see," Fred said and Hermione understood.
"You want me to do it?" She asked flatly and Fred looked sheepish.
"I was hoping you would."
"Then I will," Hermione said all business-like. Fred knew, somehow instinctively that she was secretly delighted that she was going to be using magic. He saw it in the way her small hands twitched on the table, as if they held a wand.
When they were back in there room, Hermione finally had the chance she had been waiting for to reveal to Fred just what had transpired before he'd shown up. Hermione felt terribley guilty, even though she'd had no control over Draco's actions, she had known that something bad was going to happen. He was Malfoy after all. Him kissing her wasn't something she'd forseen though.
"Fred, Draco kissed me," Hermione said.
Fred turned a funny maroon color and he whipped around to face Hermione. She winced, ready for the famous Weasley temper.
"That little brat," Fred said and then he started laughing when he saw the disbelieving look on Hermione's face.
"Hermione, of course he likes you. I could see that even when we were in school, but I also know you. You where never that stupid," Fred told her and then he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, "Unless of course you're fancying being the mother to a dozen little ferret babies."
"Not funny, Fred," Hermione said even though she betrayed her good mood by smiling anyway, "For a moment there I could only think of the reaction I would have gotten from Ron if I told him that."
"Bah! Ronniekins is about as thick as three two-by-fours nails together," Fred told her flippantly.
"Have you ever noticed how people who want to kiss you suddenly break out the gum?" Hermione asked, remembering how Draco had popped a piece into his mouth before he approached her.
"That may be true at first," Fred said and then he smirked, "So if I happen to put some gum in, you'll know what that'll mean, right?"
"You want a kiss?" Hermione asked her face splitting into a large smile despite herself.
"Yes, and the same will be true if I see you putting gum in. I'll just take it upon myself to grant your wish," Fred said laughingly.
Hermione had to laugh at his silliness, but she knew under the joking manner he was actually being serious.
"I'll be sure to watch out," She said as she opened the door and went out. Fred followed lazily.
They arrived at the dining room, and Fred opened the door for Hermione. She was surprised to find not only Mrs. Henderson, but also Draco and a few other hotel guests standing in a congregation slightly away from a large wardrobe that was shaking violently from side to side.
"Sorry about the extra witnesses. Some of them have never seen a boggart," Mrs. Henderson said in her usual hostess voice. Hermione had to give her credit, she was charming when she wanted to be. A trait, no doubt, adopted from the Malfoys.
"That's fine," Fred said easily flashing her an equally charming smile, although Hermione knew his to be genuine. He was easy-going after all and liked to be the center of attention at times.
"Rachel, we were going to move to this section of the room, to be out of the way," Mrs. Henderson said pinning Hermione with her eyes. Hermione flushed at being called out, and she looked down.
"Rachel is wicked with a wand. I'm nowhere near as good as she is," Fred said and Hermione knew at once that Mrs. Henderson had meant to test Fred by her reaction, because she grew figedty and tried to smile but failed.
"Very well," She consented at last with a small thwarted frown on her face.
Hermione ignored this and went to the wardrobe. She had her wand in her hand and she was took a deep cleansing breath, just as she'd learned to do in school. A clear mind was best for performing spells. She turned and saw the people still milling around.
"You might want to back up," She said confidently, and as soon as they had, she turned the knob and stepped back.
At first it was like smoke was issuing from the wardrobe, but then the smoke took a more definate shape and moved onto the floor. Hermione became aware at that moment that two people hadn't retreated to the back of the room. Fred was further back on her left and Malfoy, the complete idiot was nearly besides her on her right.
At first the boggart glided as a black shadow, and Hermione waited, heart in her stomach, as it came closer to Malfoy. Whatever he was afraid of, she could only imagine would be just as frightening to her.
The boggart gave a shudder and began to transform.