CHAPTER SIX

'I don't want to be a man,' said Jace. 'I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can't confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead.'
'Well,' said Luke, 'you're doing a fantastic job.'
~Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes~

Jenna Boyle, it turned out, graduated from Hogwarts with them. She was in Hufflepuff, which Ron decided made up for her awful surname. He had been going on and on about her at dinner that night. Harry had come with them and the three of them were stuffed in a booth at their favourite burger place.

When she said stuffed, it really only meant her. Harry was fine- he had the whole bench to himself. Ron, on the other hand, had slid in after her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, suffocating her- in a manner of speaking. She didn't know how to tell him to give her some space, especially when this was something couples did. Looking around at all the couples in the place, she saw they all were touching in some sort. All she wanted to so was sit in peace and study the menu, deciding what toppings she was putting on her Big Ben sized burger. Did Ron always have to be touching her?

It probably wasn't his fault, she rationalised. She'd had an intense day- what with the Malfoys and all that. And Ron had had a swell time getting on with Jenna Boyle and her stupid freckles and her Hufflepuff niceness or whatever they were known for. That was mean- she realized. There was no need for her to take out her her frustration on Jenna or all of Hufflepuff house. Besides Jenna had an internship at St. Mungo's in the paediatric wing. Jenna was probably someone Hermione wouldn't mind being friends with.

Harry kept shooting her furtive glances, like he was nervous for her mental health. She made sure her face was masked by the menu. After they had ordered and she no longer had the menu to hide behind, she tried to casually scoot away from Ron. Without him knowing, of course- hence the 'casual.' She felt Harry's eyes boring into her and instantly felt mortified at being caught. But how was Harry suppose to understand? His girlfriend was off at Hogwarts! They never fought! And when they were together rarely as it was, on account of the whole being apart thing, they usually just made out. So they had no need to fight because Hermione never much felt like fighting when she was making out with anyone either. Not that she had made out with anyone but Ron before.

Did Harry get her message? She was trying very hard to send it to him telepathically. What- he could see into Voldemort's mind, but not hers? What kind of sick irony was that?

Ron didn't seem to notice any of this, he was still going on an on about Jenna's love for muggle sports cars. She was taking them to a car show. Ron was excited, the only experience he'd really had with a car was the one his dad had tricked out to fly- which wasn't what most cars did anyway. And their flying car was also a pretty lame model. Jenna had brought pictures with them to the meeting and just like that she had all of them eating out of the palm of her hand.

Hermione mentally slapped herself again. Jenna was probably just being nice- prepared. She was just mad because she hadn't been prepared and she was with the Malfoys who wanted nothing to do with her or The British Museum OR William Shakespeare. Jenna had gotten lucky. She was with the Weasleys, she'd have a great experience on this blasted show!

"How did your talk go?" Harry asked her, and Hermione realised they had stopped talking about Jenna. He knew how her meeting with the Malfoys had gone. As soon as they left the Ministry, she had told them all about it.

But since Ron had been going on about Jenna, Harry probably didn't want her to get the wrong idea. So she said, "Narcissa isn't too bad, I guess. Hopefully she'll be able to get away from Lucius at the museum- I think she really was interested."

"And that prick Malfoy?" Ron asked, taking a sip of his lemonade.

She knew he was talking about Draco. It was weird thinking of him in her head as Draco, but since she'd be having to spend time with all of the Malfoys, it would make sense to call them all by their names. She shrugged, "He didn't say anything."

She probably should have said more. This made it seem like she was hiding some big moment that had happened between them, but nothing had happened. There was honestly nothing to tell because he hadn't said a word about anything she'd said. There was the way he kept staring at her like she was an unknown bacteria he was studying under a microscope like a scientist, but it didn't seem important.

So she steered the conversation away from herself and then their food came. Hermione was ecstatic to see her Everest sized burger spilling over with grilled mushrooms. She was also thrilled that you needed two hands to eat a burger, so Ron would have to let go of her. And then she could bump him with her elbow and feign shock and he'd move over, giving her more room to eat. Because all Ron understood was food.

She saw his own burger bleeding the special, secret sauce Yolo's burger place used. She watched as he looked at his plate and then his arm around her shoulders. She bit her lip, waiting for him to move it. Instead he kept looking back between the two like he was in a real dilemma. She wanted to slap him and didn't have any qualms when she said, rather acidly, "Ronald, move."

He looked scandalised, pulling his arm away from her like he thought she would bite it if he kept it near her for another second. She might have. She was annoyed and starved and for some reason, everything agitated her. She didn't look at Harry as she bit into her burger, not ready to see whatever tsking look he had on his face.

"Someone's on their period," Ron muttered, bitting into his own early heart attack.

She saw Harry shaking his head, but it vaguely registered as she turned to Ron. "What did you say?"

Ron chewed, swallowing before he said, "You're so mad about everything! Everything was fine, and then I took you to Paris and everything got so messed up!"

They were attracting an audience. Hermione saw all the girls shooting her nasty looks, so she said, rather desperately in a voice that didn't sound her own, "You did not take me to Paris! You took me to a restaurant in Paris! That's two VERY different things- and this has nothing to do with Paris!"

"Then what is it?" Ron prompted, looking at her like she was a stranger.

"Guys, maybe you want to do this later," Harry jumped in, a meaningful look plastered on his face.

Neither heard him as Hermione plowed on, "This is just me wanting space to eat without your giant bear hands everywhere! Do you realise how exhausted I am after everything?" She hadn't meant to bring up his bear hands and that him touching her annoyed her, since she thought about how she would feel if he said that to her, but it had just come pouring out. She couldn't stop herself as she said, "And you have stupid, pretty, Jenna Boyle and I have Malfoy-"

He cut her off, "I told you to quit! You were the one that was all," He flipped his imaginary hair over his shoulder and his voice went up a few octaves in what was a very bad impersonation of his girlfriend, "I'm going to be the bigger person and show Malfoy he can't boss me around and blah, blah, blah!"

"I don't sound like that!" She shrieked, indignantly, before adding, "And I did not say that!"

"Yeah, well," Ron muttered, he grabbed his burger and stood up. "I'm leaving!"

"Ron," Harry started, but stopped as his friend stalked out. Hermione sighed, her anger deflating at the sight of Ron walking away from her. She wanted to run after him and apologise for being such a bitch, but she couldn't. It was like she was glued to her seat, but the pain was there. She felt it everywhere and for a moment wondered if she'd lost him. She couldn't have- after all they'd been through. Years of fighting and hidden feelings... they couldn't fall apart at Yolo's Burger Joint.

Her legs felt wooden. She couldn't move as she stared at her burger.

Harry murmured, "Are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick..."

She shook her head, "I... I don't know. C-can we... go?"

Harry called for the waiter to have their food wrapped. The cold air woke her up a little, her thoughts became clearer.

"What happened in there?" Harry asked, as they walked down the empty street. He was holding their food in his hand, but the other was wrapped around her shoulder. "You're not going to yell at me, right?"

Hermione nudged him, but felt herself crack a smile. She muttered, "No,"

At her silence, Harry prompted her again, "Come on 'Mione... talk to me..."

"I just... I snapped. That's it," Hermione told him, "All the stress from this stupid Malfoy thing... to the pressure of getting a real job and getting my life together."

"I didn't know that was bothering you. I thought you liked living at home."

"I do," Hermione said, nodding her head, "But I can't do that forever, and I'm just... I don't know... scared?"

"Hermione, you're the bravest person I know." Harry squeezed her shoulder, "You're gonna be fine. You're smart and pretty and great. You're gonna figure out what you want, you don't need to worry about it."

Hermione sighed, "It's easy for you to say that. You know you want to be an auror and you got accepted to the training program. Your life is set, everything is coming together the way you want it. You have Ginny and a flat with your best mate and soon enough, your dream job. You don't get it,"

"Hermione," He used her full name again, and she worried he was about to get all deep and philosophical. "Me, and Ron, and even Ginny, we all believe in you. So do your parents. You have all of us if you ever need to lean on someone. Don't carry the stress. Unload some of it on us. We're all willing to help and one day you're gonna have the life you want, too."

Joy gave her off Tuesday to take the Malfoys to the museum. There were two men with cameras standing next to her, and one of them was asking her some questions while the other guy filmed her. She could feel several passerbys staring at her, probably wondering what they were filming and if she was anyone famous they should be taking pictures of.

"Are you nervous?"

"A little bit," She said, honestly, "I'm hoping they'll be open to learning about Shakespeare and seeing ancient artefacts and art. It isn't just muggle stuff, it's human stuff and we're all human even if some of us can do magic."

The guy gave her a thumbs up and then walked off to get some shots of the museum and the hordes of people milling around. Hermione looked around, seeing tourists with their maps and fanny packs, looking around nervously. There were tour groups with their over zealous directors holding umbrellas in the air so their group doesn't get lost. Their were kids taking classes in the museum walking by with their ids.

Finally she spotted the shiny blonde hair on Lucius' head billowing in the early morning breeze. She sighed, looking at her watch. They were ten minutes late. She took a bite of the muffin she had picked up from the tea shop around the block. The camera guys came back to her and started filming.

This was it.

"Morning," Hermione greeted.

Narcissa was wearing a summer dress, her hair up in its usual fashion. She gave Hermione a tight nod, and it was apparent she had listened to Lucius' opinion about how she should behave. Glancing at him, she saw he had his typical cane and a black cloak on, drawing attention to himself. Most people didn't walk around in cloaks. She looked at Draco, and was pleased to find he hadn't worn a cloak. Maybe he understood. No matter, he had on black jeans and a black t-shirt. His hair was slicked back with a snarky grin on his face.

"Okay," She added, when none of them said anything. "Lets go inside then."

Since the museum was free, there was no long admission line. She picked up a map for herself and then three extra. She turned to give them to her companions, but Lucius looked at it like it was a slimy toad that might croak loudly any moment. Draco looked bored, and when she cast a final glance at Narcissa, there was a spark in her eyes that said she wanted a map. But she didn't take it.

Hermione put two back and beckoned the Mafloys to go first. She slipped the map into Narcissa's bag before going in front of them. "There's an exhibit on Picasso, but I'm not really too fond of his work. If you would like to go see it, however..." She saw their blank faces, and realised they had also never heard of Picasso.

"He's a painter..." She explained, getting jostled by patrons as she slowed down to study the Malfoys. Lucius didn't seem to care as he looked around the place like he was better than everyone. Draco just looked bored and Hermione wondered if that was all he felt. She couldn't see the camera crew, but knew they must have been around somewhere.

"Well, there's an exhibit about horses," She tried again, "Some rock sculptures and clay among others. Mostly on Arabians and thoroughbreds. You do know what horses are, right? They look like thestrals." She hoped the mention of magical horses would perk them up, but Lucius' glare hardened. It was like he hated being told a muggle animal and a magical animal were alike.

She was surprised to see Draco seemed mildly interested at the prospect of seeing horses. "Okay," She said, "Um... horses it is, then. This way," She consulted her map, leading them through the main entrance. Luckily enough, the special exhibitions were near the entrance, so they reached it in no time. She was eager to step away from them and enjoy the art on her own.

Hopefully Narcissa would make the most of it and maybe Draco would too. Lucius walked around the room, his head held high, like he was better than everyone. He went and stood in a corner. She found the camera crew, one was on Draco's tail while the other went over to Lucius. Probably to try and coax him back over, since they were supposed to be bonding.

There was a giant rock sculpture in the middle of the room. Ancient art was so interesting, Hermione thought, walking over to admire it. There were no photos allowed, so Hermione studied it, detail by detail, trying to lock everything down in her mind. She could have stood there, looking at the same rock all day long. She read the card, seeing it was made by Persians and flipped through the pages of her mind to remember what she learned about the Persians back in muggle school.

She skirted around the room, feeling like she was being watched. She probably was, seeing as this was being filmed for a reality show. It made her self conscious and she touched her hair more times than a normal person should. She paused in front of small figurines made of gold. She wanted to reach out and touch it, she was sure it smooth as a glass plane, but she restrained herself. They looked like the mini horses she used to play with as a child, but obviously they were different, as she never had gold horses.

She hadn't even realised she and Draco had been standing side by side looking at the same thing. She didn't know who had been there first, but it didn't seem important. They stood silently, their eyes never wavering from the art. She wondered what he was thinking. Was he remembering his childhood also? It was possible he did own mini gold figurines of snakes, or whatever animal he had wanted. Or maybe he was just admiring the artistry. She stifled a laugh- it was highly unlikely Draco had ever found a piece of art beautiful. Or admired a piece of art.

Whatever had held him to the spot, Hermione was curious about it. She thought about asking him something- as they were supposed to be building bridges. But she didn't know what was appropriate. Here was the boy that had called her a Mudblood and wished for her death in second year when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. She had slapped him in third year. Their relationship hadn't gotten much better than that.

But she had to try, since she was the bigger person and that was what mature people did. She gritted her teeth and said, "Do you like-"

But he was already gone.

She spun around wildly, trying to spot his head in the crowd. He had disappeared without a sound while she was fighting her own mental battle. And she hadn't even noticed! She tried to compose herself, smoothing her dress. She wouldn't let him get to her.

Wilson Betemit sighed as he looked at the dailies from their first day of shooting. Most of what they had gotten was good- apart from the Greengrasses and the Malfoys. He shot a glare at Marty, "You better fix this. If we don't start getting some good material, we're hiring scriptwriters. So, you, better... encourage them."

Marty nodded meekly. He'd encourage them.

A/N Hey guuuuuys! I hope you're enjoying and thanks to everyone that reviewed the last time. I hope you like the quotes I chose to open every chapter- let me tell you, some of those were a bitch to dig up. And I hope you liked the museum scene and all that jazz. I need to go finish my astronomy paper now. Cheers guys! Reviews are veeery much appreciated.