Chapter 13
A/n: Thanks to the lovely reviews! I love you guys!
Now here we go!
(Revised on March 3, 2006.)
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Mrs. Granger proved herself a very efficient cook. Tonight she served rosemary-crusted salmon with asparagus and couscous with pine nuts, and it was delicious.
Christian, apparently, had some unresolved jealousy issues. Hermione had dumped him while in Italy; their families had vacationed together. He kept shooting death glares down the table at Draco.
The adults, Dr. and Dr. Granger, Mr. and Mrs. Carlin, and Mr. Vincent, were all chatting, laughing, and drinking wine, while the three teenagers ate in stony silence.
After dinner, the parents went to the study for coffee and drinks, while the children retreated to the garden.
There was an awkward silence, and the boys sat, with their backs to each other, on a stone bench. Hermione observed the rose garden she had missed so much.
"So, Draco, is it?" Christian said in a peremptory manner.
Malfoy did not reply.
"Look mate. I'm talking to you, so you better be paying me some bloody attention!" His face was getting red.
Hermione looked up from the roses. "Or you'll what, Christian. Beat him with a vodka bottle? Or perhaps just your bare hands? I'm sure you haven't forgotten how."
He opened his mouth to reply, but a scream filled the warm night air.
It was Hermione's. She had stepped on a rusty nail, and it had gone straight through her shoe, and her foot.
Draco ran to her, picked her up, and sat her on the stone bench. The blood from her foot left a glistening path in the moonlit grass.
Christian watched the events with interest; the other boy wrapped his hands around the injured foot. A green light was emitted, and most of it was absorbed by the wound, although a few rays managed to pass between his fingers.
When he removed his hands, the only evidence of the accident was a ruined shoe and a broken nail.
Christian backed away from them; the terror was unmasked in his eyes. "You freak! What did you do to her?" He charged at Draco, but stopped as he saw his opponent's hands. They were held, palm out, at Christian's chest, and were glowing with that same eerie green light.
Hermione stood up, and said quietly to Draco, not caring if the other boy heard, "Can't you get in trouble for wandless magic?"
He shook his head. "There's nothing they can do, no wand they can take…"
"So are you guys, like, spies or something?" Christian said. "And you use code words and everything?" He seemed pleased with himself for apparently 'cracking the code'.
"Merlin, Muggles are so ignorant. I've got an idea!" Hermione said brightly. "Silencio!" She walked up to the offending individual. She said in a persuasive, conversational tone, "Christian, do you remember when I broke up with you?" He opened his mouth to reply, but the effects of the charm kept him from doing so. Instead, he nodded, knitting his brows in confusion of his sudden silence. "And, Christian, do you know why that was?" He shook his head. Hermione winced, pointed at her own arm and whispered, "Revealo." All of a sudden, the skin on her arm melted away. After a few seconds, the melted mess of goo congealed, to form an arm, silvered with scars.
"Does this ring a bell?" She said with menace. Removing a glamour hurt, and pain always put her in a bad mood.
He shook his head.
"Then let me refresh your memory. Last summer. Italy. We were sitting on the beach with a bottle of vodka and a bottle of rum. The parents were gone on an evening dinner cruise. You had drunk three quarters of the vodka, and we were talking about your mum. You know, the way she died in the crash and everything. Then you got all defensive and started yelling. You took the vodka bottle and decided you would beat me with it. The only thing you remember is waking up the next morning and nothing being wrong. I had put a glamour on my arm while it healed so no one would know what you had done to me. I had washed away the blood in the sand with seawater. Now, I'm left with a silver arm, while all you got was a bad hangover."
He shook his head feverishly. His denials of his actions made her even madder than she already was. She had kept this pent up for too long. Like the saying goes, bottled-up anger eventually explodes. And now, it was exploding. She said slowly, "And you think… that I… would let you… get away with something like that? You don't even have a snowball's chance in Hell with that one." Then she whispered, "Crucio."
She watched him silently while he writhed on the dewy grass in pain. Draco looked at her, horrified. She caught his eye and shrugged.
Lifting the curse, she murmured, "I guess that's what you get for hitting me. Bloody bastard," She added. She altered the silencing charm to make it temporary. "Do you still think we're spies?" She asked.
He shook his head and cried.
"I'll be right back, Draco love." She kissed him, replaced the glamour on her arm, and then went inside to find Mr. Vincent.
"Excuse me sir? I'm afraid something has happened to Christian. He is not feeling too well. Perhaps you should take him home?" She asked, feigning timidity.
"What's the matter with him?" Asked the big, cumbersome man with some alarm.
"I don't know sir. He just… started crying and he won't say anything!"
"Alright, I'll take him home then. But… it's just so unlike him." He scratched his head, got Christian and led him to the van. Since they had also brought the Carlins, all the guests piled into the gold vehicle after saying their remorseful goodbyes.
As soon as the maple French doors shut on the night, Mr. Granger's red face yelled, "Hermione Jane! Get yourself down here NOW!"
She tiptoed into the foyer where the angry father stood. She asked meekly, "Yes sir?"
"Don't you 'yes sir' me! You know exactly what you did! So you tell me! What the bloody Hell did you do to that poor boy?"
"I didn't do anything! I don't know why you are blaming it on me! Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean I'm responsible for every single bloody mishap that happens in this bloody house!"
"Well, missy. There aren't, as you call them, mishaps, in this house while you're away at school!" He stood, with his arms crossed, looking very much like the beloved American celebrity Mr. Clean.
"Whatever Papa! I don't need this! I am under enough stress as it is! So I'm going to bed. See you next summer, maybe." She stopped up the stairs, dragging Draco by his collar behind her.
As he was being hauled up the stairs Draco called, "It was lovely meeting you Doctor Granger! Hope to see you again."
Clomping down the hallway, Hermione pushed Draco into the bedroom and slammed the door, saying, "Ugh! The nerve of him! Why does he always blame it on me?" She said it loud enough so that if her parents were anywhere in the vicinity, they would hear her fuming to herself.
"So, will the scorned lover tell his beloved father about your actions?" Draco asked, kicking of his shoes and laying back on the bed. He unbuttoned his shirt while waiting for an answer.
"I don't know. If he did, Mr. Vincent would think he was mad and lock him up in the nutter house. So we are in the clear. Do you want something to sleep in? Like a T-Shirt?"
"Nah, my boxers will be fine."
"Alright. I am going to go brush my teeth. Do you want to shower or something?"
"Sure."
He went into the bathroom, turned on the water and stepped in. He stepped out almost as fast, naked as Adam, screaming, "Bloody hell! It's cold!" He grabbed Hermione's pink, fluffy robe and put it on his glistening body.
Hermione laughed until she cried. "D-D-Draco! It's a m-m-m-muggle shower! You have to wait for the water to warm up!"
He looked like a little kid whose big sister just told him there was no such thing as Father Christmas.
"Don't worry love. I'm sure it's warm enough now. And I'm not too sure pink is your color." She winked and began to brush her teeth,
Draco was out of the shower before his companion had finished flossing. "Scourgify," He said, pointing his finger at his boxers. "I hate not having clean underwear. It just feels… weird." He grinned and got dressed while Hermione tried not to stare at his gorgeous physique.
"Ah, Draco. I have to take a shower too."
He smirked and said, while standing at the sink and combing his sopping hair, "I'm not objecting."
"Well, how about you just stay in the bedroom for about five minutes, alright?"
He frowned, and then agreed.
Hermione got into a hot shower, and scrubbed away all her anger. As she showered, he transfigured his dress pants into a worn out pair of muggle blue jeans, with a brown leather belt and a big rectangular belt buckle with a brassy-looking star.
There was a soft tap on the bedroom door.
"Wait a tick, I'll be there." Draco threw on his newly made jeans, looking fashionable as always, and opened the door, shirtless. Mrs. Granger stood there, and her mouth dropped open. The she cleared her throat and held up a tray, with two cups of tea on it.
"Hello Draco." He smiled and nodded in return.
"Would you like to come in Doctor Granger? Hermione's in the shower right now, but I don't think she would mind."
"Oh, that would be just lovely!" She said, setting the tray down next to the computer and sitting down in the desk chair.
They sat in a rather awkward silence, waiting for Hermione to finish up. After about five minutes, Draco got up and rapped his knuckles on the slightly ajar door.
"Hermione love? Your mother is here. Do you think you could speed it up a bit?"
The only response was the shower turning off, and a wet hand reaching out for a fluffy towel from behind the curtain.
Draco returned to his original seat; the bed. "She'll be out in just a second."
"Alright then."
Hermione came out, squeezing water out of her hair with a light green towel, wearing a pair of maroon boyshorts and a yellow camisole. Gryffindor colors. Draco shook his head and sighed in exasperation.
"Yes mum?"
"Ah… Here, I brought some tea up for you two."
They murmured their thanks and sipped at the cold tea.
"What did you really come up for?" Hermione sat down next to Draco.
"Do you remember you had something really important that you wanted to tell us?" Hermione nodded. "Well, do you think you could tell me darling?"
"Oh, uh… of course."
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Blue button! (I know I keep changing the color, but I can't really decide what color it is.)