Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Authors note: Review, please! I love constructive criticism :)

I'm pretty impressed at the response for this story :) Thank you so much. Also, I'm not a proffessional horse rider, nor do I own a horse. I'm only using my experience at the stables here, so if I do get anything wrong, I'm terribly sorry :s

Summary: Hermione was riding horses before she could walk. When her parents died when she was just a few months old, she moved to live with her uncle on his ranch. Imagine her surprise when one summer, Draco Malfoy arrives for lessons.

Gypsy Hollow

Chapter 2 - Surprising Visitors

Hermione was awake and out at seven on the the first day of summer holiday, a thought many teenagers would feel ill with. Dressed in black jodhpurs, her riding boots and a dark blue polo-shirt, she immediately set out at preparing the morning feeds. She was so used to this job that by the time the two stable hands arrived, she had already finished all the buckets.

"I'm surprised you've only made the buckets up." Emily teased.

"Last time you were home you had all the horses fed by the time we got here." Robin reminded her with a smile. Hermione laughed as she hugged the twins, having missed her only real friends in the area. Even when she had been going to the local school, she had never been very social - most of the children thought she was a freak and tended to avoid her at all costs - unless it was to bully her, of course.

Her uncle had hired Emily and Robin shortly after Hermione had started Hogwarts, to help with managing the ranch while she was away. At first she wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea, convinced he was trying to replace her while she was at school, or subtly tell her she was no use. After meeting the girls however, they quickly became close friends.

"I must be losing my touch." She joked, before handing each of the girls a stack of buckets. They chuckled in false agreement before splitting to their separate groups - they'd early on decided to split the 18 horse ranch into three sections, one for each worker, to make it more manageable. Hermione's consisted of Thumper, obviously, as well as his mother, Rowan, the old horse she had grown up with. She was also in guard of Willow, a Tennessee Walking Horse and Kestrel, their newest Arabian mare, along with their two ex-racehorse thoroughbreds, Fleet and Jazz Man.

Between the three of them, feeds were finished quickly. Hermione was onto grooming within five short minutes. Tending to Fleet first, she smiled gleefully as his silky bay coat shone with a clean glimmer. She spent some time just petting and talking to him before she turned him out into the nearest of the four paddocks - situated literally just outside the stable, it took less than two minutes to walk him over.

She repeated much the same thing with Jazz Man, Willow and Kestrel before she finally arrived at Rowan. As she thoroughly groomed her, the old mare gently nuzzled her chestnut hair that now fell in long glossy ringlets across her shoulders and down her back. At sixteen years old, the physical changes from her eleven year old body were shocking. She often played with the thought of visiting some of the boys from her old school, simply to enjoy their reaction.

Hermione ran her fingers gently through Rowan's now tidy mane. She laughed at the realisation that it wouldn't stay so silky for long, when she was running against the gentle breeze in the paddock. Placing a last kiss on her muzzle, Hermione haltered the mare before turning her into the paddock with the others.

At last, she was at her lovely Thumper. He was five years old, thoroughly broken in and a wonderful jumper. The pair had entered and won many a show jumping and cross country competition, proving their perfect partnership.

As soon as Hermione popped up at her favourite horse's stall door, Thumper was snuffling her head, mussing up her hair. She laughed as she hugged the gelding tightly around the neck, trying to stop the happy tears that wanted to flow.

The first time Hermione had come home for the Christmas holidays, she had been terrified the horse would forget her - how wrong she'd been to panic. It was apparent he had missed her, throwing his head back and whinnying jovially the second he heard her voice in the barn. She hated that she had to leave him for such long periods of time, and her heart ached to be away from him - he was her soul mate, she often said. They were two of the same; wild, intelligent, strong and stubborn. Whenever she returned, it still took days for her to readjust to the fact that she had the rest of the holiday to spend with him.

Thumper continued to ruffle her hair as Hermione took her time grooming him. She made sure he was impeccably clean before taking him out of the stall, spending as much time as she could simply being close to him.

She lead him to the paddock and took off the halter, laughing as he refused to move from her side. She took a step past the gate and he mimicked her movements. She grinned and threw her hands back around his neck as she placed gentle kisses on his dapple grey coat. Eventually she took a few more steps into the paddock, allowing her to close herself in.

With a devilish smirk, she suddenly took off towards the other end of the grass, laughing as she heard the cantering gait of Thumper behind her. She threw herself over one of the jumps, listening for the thud of him landing behind her, before she finally slowed to a stop. Moving to his side, she placed her hands on his back.

"What do you think, Thumper? It's been a while - do you reckon I still have it in me?" She asked him. He just nudged her impatiently with his nose, as if urging her to climb on. She happily complied, vaulting onto him. He was immediately in schooling mode, as perfectly behaved as you could wish for. But they were in the paddock, and Hermione just wanted him to have fun. She gently took hold of his mane and leaned forward, to talk into his ears that were flicked attentively towards her.

"You're in charge, Thumper. Go on, boy." Immediately he broke into a brisk trot, and a bright smile spread on Hermione's face as she revelled in the flowing movements of being on a horse, something she had missed greatly.

Thumper wandered aimlessly for a while, before he decided he really wanted to play. He flew into a strong canter, and Hermione's trilling laugh could be heard all over the ranch as she threw her heart into the enjoyment. He leaped over the strategically placed jumps eagerly, seeming to relish in Hermione's happiness.

Eventually, though, Hermione knew she had to get back to work. She slowed him to a halt before jumping off, patting his slightly damp shoulder and combing his forelock with her fingers. He followed her over to the gate, which she had to vault. She knew that if she had tried opening the gate, he would have attempted to go right after her. The knowledge made her smile again.

Checking her watch, Hermione saw it had only just gone nine, and her timing impressed even her. She chose to make a start on mucking the horses out before anything else, heading towards the end of the barn to pick up a fork and wheelbarrow.

It took her a while to muck out and re-fill the hay nets in all six stalls, but she eventually finished after almost two hours. She finished by checking the water pumps were working appropriately and that the water coming through was clean. When she was appeased, she went to help Emily and Robin with their horses. Working as a team, they'd finished turning out the horses and cleaning every stall by just gone one in the afternoon.

The three girls took a much needed break, sitting together on the outside table with lemonade her uncle had brought out to them. They were fretting about the exercising necessary that afternoon - surprisingly, no lessons had been booked that day, and that meant the girls themselves would have to exercise all eighteen horses. They cringed at the thought.

Sighing in defeat, Hermione rose from her seat to get her uncle. She found him sitting at his desk in the office, looking at something on the computer screen. She silently moved to stand behind him, reading the article on "Financial Security" over his shoulder. She scoffed at him for looking at it, which startled him. She couldn't hold back her laughter at his terrified expression.

"Oh, Hermione! What can I do for you, Sweet Pea?" He asked, finally relaxing enough to pull her into his lap. She cuddled into his chest, feeling the safety associated with him she had felt ever since she was a baby quickly wash over her.

"Hey there, Uncle." She smiled, before sighing again. "Uncle, we have an issue. Or 18." She admitted. He pulled back to look at her in confusion.

"What's wrong with the horses?" He panicked. Hermione shook her head, quickly dismissing any worries he had about their health or safety. She took his hand and held it tightly in her own, lowering her face to look up at him underneath her lashes with a pout.

"Well, there are no lessons booked today. That means Emily, Robin and I are going to have to ride all of them ourselves. There's not a chance we'll be able to get them each a fair amount of exercise before dark. We need a little more help." Luke groaned at her.

"No, Hermione. I will not - no, stop pulling that face. You know how I can't resist it."

"Exactly. Please, uncle? We really need it."

"Hermione, I am not going to ride, today. I have too much work to do." He lied.

"Sure, because reading articles on 'what financial security truly is' really comes under the job description of managing the ranch." Hermione rolled her eyes, confused as to what was going on with her uncle. She hardly ever saw him get on a horse any more. If she was completely honest, she'd say that the fact they needed help wasn't the only reason she wanted to see him ride - she wanted to assure herself that he wasn't, for some strange reason, scared.

"Hermione -"

"Please? I'm begging." She pouted again, climbing off his lap, and saw Luke was finally giving into her. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked up at her, and Hermione saw what she was worried about swimming in his eyes - fear.

"Alright." He eventually conceded, and Hermione cheered silently. "And, by the way, there is a lesson booked today. In fact, he called a little while ago - he'd like to come in a little earlier to look at the horses. He said around three." Hermione looked down at her watch again - just over an hour left.

"Okay then. Let's get started." She chirped brightly.

"He's a beginner, so -"

"I'll tack up Rowan." She informed him before he could finished. He smiled proudly at her before following her out towards the stable. He saw Emily and Robin already bringing up some of the horses from two of the more distant paddocks and smiled shyly at them as he went after his niece. They looked at him with matching looks of sympathy, but Luke just shook his head.

Hermione was already leaving the paddock with Rowan in one hand and Thumper obediently at her side by the time Luke reached the gate. He quickly caught Fleet and Jazz Man and lead them back to their stalls.

He started grooming Jazz Man as Hermione lastly brought Willow and Kestral in, and straight away she started on the sleek white Arabian. It was only a light grooming, and together they had all six horses done within twenty minutes. Rowan was soon tacked up, her reins tied safely beneath her throat.

"Who do you want to ride, then?" Hermione asked her uncle as she tacked up Jazz Man for the indoor arena. Luke stuttered pathetically before shaking his head quickly, finally able to speak coherently through his now painfully obvious fear.

"I think I'll watch you first. You know, make sure you haven't lost your touch." He winked at her, and Hermione smiled at the comment so similar to the one she had made that morning. She decided to look past this apparently irrational fear for now, choosing to follow Luke into the arena. It was already set up with some jumps, probably from where one of the girls had been riding earlier.

After warming up with some simple circuits around the space on both reins in walk and trot, she finally transitioned into a smooth canter. The Thoroughbred's long, powerful legs flew them across the area as she moved into a twenty metre circle at C, before a change of rein; H to F.

"Beautiful." Luke commented, as Jazz Man leaped over the first jump. She did another twenty metre circle before moving onto the double jump.

"Heels." He reminded, and Hermione made sure to point her heels down, toes up in the stirrups. "Work the double, then the vertical, the wall and then the spread." He volunteered, and Hermione immediately obliged, refusing to knock a single bar or brick.

Patting Jazz Man's moist neck, Hermione came to a smooth halt and dismounted, taking his reins into her hand. She smiled at her uncle, who clapped loudly as she walked towards him, laughing.

"I'm guessing I did well, then?" She asked.

"When don't you?" He teased. She childishly poked her tongue out at him.

"So, have you decided who-" Hermione never got a chance to finish.

"Luke!" Emily's call sounded easily across the courtyard. "We have a customer."

"That'll be the one I told you about earlier." He explained before walking up towards the house, Hermione following behind with Jazz Man, patting the thoroughbred proudly after his impressive performance.

"What did you say his name was?" She asked curiously, trying to remember.

"I don't think I did." He pondered. "It was rather odd... Malloy, or something like that. Not very common, I imagine."

"Malloy? I've never heard -" She broke off as she found a pair of molten silver eyes. His blond hair fell loosely around his ears as he looked at her in interest. Hermione groaned quietly, closing her eyes in impending exhaustion.

"I'm not sure, maybe it was Mafla? I know it began with 'M'..."

"Malfoy, uncle Luke." She informed him, clearly disgruntled. "Draco Malfoy."