Chapter Eight
Locked in her room, Hermione sighed. She processed Professor Moody's words in her head, wondering even if there was such a thing as a mankrill bird. He obviously wanted them to be ready by 3.30 in the morning and he did not wish them to breathe a single word about magic. Things were getting more complicated she thought to herself as she sat at the foot of the bed, running her fingers over the engraved words on the cover of the book. The font in the middle was still too faint to decipher though the one liner at the bottom seemed to deepen everyday. She had yet to receive a reply from the long letter she had sent her father earlier.
Slowly she flipped through the book. She still did not understand why it was that only she and Malfoy could read its scripture. She mused in silence. If only she was back at Hogwarts, then she could be researching in the library, she thought in frustration. Her stomach let out a loud rumble, reminding her of the meals she had missed while they were travelling. She recalled a buffet dinner being set out at the eatery in the hotel lobby. Peeling off her jacket, she rummaged through her bag, finding the opaque book cover she was looking for. Placing it delicately over her book, she stepped back to look at her work. She bit back a laugh, she had disguised her book has a trashy love novel. Tucking it under her arm, she slipped her room key into her pocket before heading down to get a taste of the buffet dinner.
Meanwhile, on the opposite of the corridor, Draco found himself unwinding in a cool bath. He felt certain that he would never be able to eat in the surroundings of the dinning room downstairs. It looked horrid. Thus, minutes earlier, he had troubled himself to rely on his muggle studies and operate the communication device, in the processes ordering himself a warm meal.
Reading from the book in her lap, Hermione tucked into the meal she picked out herself. Her hunger had allowed her to believe the paltry food was scrumptious and thus she piled it on her plate, saving her trouble from leaving her seat too often. Thus, she failed to note the crowd which had entered the dinning room.
Although the hotel was not that high up on the standard appearance, it was comfortable and cheap and thus drew in a lot of people especially those who had taken up to exploring rural London. Therefore, many people flocked to the dinning rooms and tucked into the food offered, due to this the people observing Hermione got by undetected.
Hermione drew her eyes away from the book when she realised her plate was empty. Finding the dinning room was too crowded to her liking, decided to retire to her room and take a long much awaited bath.
Drying her hair, Hermione sat wrapped in a towel upon her bed, arranging the items in her bag. She had decided not to unpack , knowing that they were probably leaving in the wee hours of the morning. Sealing her bag, and placing the book in the secret compartment at the back, she concentrated on drying her wet hair, without the aid of a wand.
Suddenly the loud shrill of the telephone jarred Hermione out of her contemplations. Scrambling across the bed she picked up the receiver in one hand, the other still towelling her brown hair.
"Hello?" Hermione voiced into the receiver. The line crackled loudly and Hermione could hear a whisper in the background. She repeated herself loudly, to no reply. In irritation she hung up the phone. The minute she placed it down it rang again. Slightly peeved, Hermione answered it. All she could hear was a laboured breath on the other side. Again she hung up, only for the phone to ring once more.
"Oh for heavens sake!" She exclaimed in annoyance, deciding that the best course of action would be to ignore the phone call, It continued to ring repeatedly; grating her nerves, unable to tolerate it any further, she picked up the line.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?" Hermione replied, startled to hear her name being called by an unknown voice. "Who is this?"
"You don't know me but I know you…I know you very well Hermione. I can even see you."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Right, I am really busy righ-"
"You are wrapped in a white towel."
Slightly startled Hermione looked around her room. She suppressed a laugh at her sudden panic as her rationality took over. There was no way anybody else was in her room. Who ever was on the phone probably made a wild guess. It must have been some weirdo at the dinning hall, after all it was rather obvious that I was going to take a bathe after my meal, and the hotel only provides white towels. Hermione thought to herself. Yet still slightly afraid, she tried to wrap up the call.
"That's nic-"
"Hermione, I love you. I loved you ever since I saw you. We are meant to be together. I am sleeping right above you, sitting directly above the exact position that you are sitting on, on your bed and talking to me. You are biting your lip right now.-Hermione hurriedly released her lip-I will dream about you tonight. And I will come and see you tonight. I love you Hermione. And tonight, I'll make you mine-" Hermione slammed down the receiver in disgust and hurriedly ran her hands over the goosebumps forming on her bare arms. She took in a deep breathe and let it out slowly, trying to calm her pounding heart. Hurriedly she dried herself and her hair, stepping into the yoga pants and tanktop which she had designated as her sleepwear for the night.
The raspy voice on the phone was still running through her mind. Trying to distract herself, she did a couple of sit ups, before switching on the television. To no avail, they were running a re-run of House, one of the few television series which she watched the entire season of.
Hermione could not stand being cooped up in her room, not while there was pervert who seemed to have an uncanny ability to know what she was doing and was making plans to visit her that night.
Slipping her key into her jacket pocket, she pulled it over her tanktop and slid her feet into her shoes; she then stepped out of her room and into the corridor. Her eyes landed on the door opposite her.
Suddenly it dawned on her. Of course, Malfoy, he knew her long enough to know that she bit her lip when she was nervous; he knew which room she was staying in so it would be easy for him to call. He probably figured that she was bathing at that time as well. Hermione growled slightly before marching across the corridor and pounding on his door.
"Malfoy!"
"Granger didn't they teach you any manners?" Draco replied, a slow minute later, opening the door to face a very red Granger.
"Yes, but they do not apply to you. You are a complete jerk you know that. I can't believe you did that I bet you think that it's really funny don't you? You are a childish, irritating, annoying prat!" She yelled prodding him in the chest to enunciate her point.
"Granger, are you raving mad? What the hell are you talking about?"
Hermione stopped short, and looked up at Malfoy. He sounded genuinely confused.
"Oh don't give me that Malfoy, you know bloody well what I am talking about" Hermione stated, fixing him with a levelled stare.
Malfoy looked down at the brunette. Her eyes were sparkling with riled up anger and her cheeks were red with yelling. If he were to say, she did look rather appealing like that.
"No I don't know what you are talking about, Granger." He added, a slight smirk plastered on his face.
"You, didn't call me?"
"No, why should I? Did you want me to call you?" Draco added, smirking suggestively.
"No." Hermione replied, frowning slightly, the blood had left her head and her anger had been replaced with her inner calm rationality.
"If you didn't call me then who did?" She asked herself out loud.
"Granger, its just one phone call, you don't have to get so excited about it." Draco added lazily, fingering the catch in the door.
The phone in Draco's room stared to ring. Hermione looked up startled, fear momentarily flickering across her face before being replaced by stern determination.
"Are you going to answer that?" She questioned.
Draco had watched the emotions fly across Hermione's face. How on earth could a telephone call unnerve the supposed brave Gryffindor. He thought to himself as he sauntered across his room and picked up the telephone. "Pass the phone to Hermione" came the raspy voice across the line.
Draco growled into the receiver. "Why on earth would Granger be in my room?" He replied, his eyes flickering to Granger who had followed him into his room and was leaning against the television set, observing him.
"Just give her the phone" Came the barked reply across the line. Draco slipped the phone into the cradle.
"Looks like you've got yourself stalker, Granger."
Hermione had managed to collect herself during the few minutes which had elapsed and thus this time she was able to answer back playfully, "Looks like you've got yourself a competitor Malfoy."
"Looks like I'm going to win hmmm?" He added, patting the empty side of his bed invitingly.
Hermione let out a laugh, "Shutup Malfoy" she added, letting herself out of his room.
Malfoy watched as the door clicked to a shut. Turning, he looked at himself face to face in the mirror. That line always used to work; maybe Granger was too much of a beast to interpret it, he thought to himself. As soon as that contemplation surfaced in his mind, he immediately squashed it down. Draco breathed out a sigh as he observed himself in the mirror. He closed his eyes for a brief second, only to be engulfed in his memories. Hurriedly his eyes flew open and he breathed in the cool air of his room. Running his hand through his hair, he shook his head slightly before grabbing his jacket of the bed and pushing open the hotel door. Perhaps a good walk would clear his head he thought. His eyes met a peculiar sight.
Hermione was bending down at his doorstep and picking up the plates he had put out earlier after consuming the food from room service. He snorted slightly.
"Granger, I never realised that the hotel was hiring new maids." He uttered as Hermione straightened, the plates balanced strategically on her arm.
"Last I heard they needed a pole dancer down at club, I'll tell the management that I've found a suitable prospect." She added with a smile and turned on her heel, walking towards the lift lobby.
"You better tell Moody first, the old man probably does not even know how to get it going." Malfoy added with slight contemplation.
Hermione started to laugh as the visual of her Professor attempting to pole dance jumped into her mind. The plates on her arm trembled violently and threatened to fall before they were swiftly caught by Draco.
"So where are you kidnapping my plates to, Granger?" He questioned, as Hermione retrieved the covered platters from Draco's full hands.
"To my new stalker, I'm treating him to an empty dinner." Malfoy nodded with vague understanding.
"And where are you headed of to Malfoy?" She questioned as she stepped into the lift which had now arrived. Malfoy stepped in with her. "I am curious to see how a person who would like you appears to be, perhaps he is blind, that would explain it" Malfoy replied with a smirk scrawled across his face.
Hermione let out a soft growl. "Of course, but I thought we had established earlier that you are stalking me too, you hardly seem blind to me" Hermione added and strode out of the lift, stepping on to the 10th floor.
Reaching the door, she knocked loudly, calling out "Room service!". Draco watched, leaning against the wall on the same side of the room door, this allowed him to remain invisible to the residents of the room when the door was opened.
Draco heard the door swing open and a gruff voice replied, "We didn't order room service."
Unperturbed Hermione beamed up at him. "Are you sure? I was told you ordered a cherry sundae, if you know what I mean" she added, winking at him. In the corridor Draco let out a soft groan, What the hell was Granger playing yet, she was literally serving herself to her stalker.
"Oh right.." The man nodded and opened the door a bit wider.
"Stupefy!" Hermione whispered and he fell forward into the corridor.
Hermione leaned forward and pushed open the hotel door, revealing the eight occupants seated around a table. A slow minute passed as they took in Hermione and their comrade lying at her feet. "That's the girl! That's Hermione!" One of the men exclaimed, immediately all eight of the were on their feet and were rushing towards her.
"Oh shit" Hermione exclaimed in reply, turning on her heel she ran out of the room and slammed the door close, hurriedly adding her weight to it to prevent it from opening.
"A bit drastic don't you think?" Draco questioned as he too added his weight to the door.
Hermione sighed in frustration. She had not expected so many people to be in the room, she had supposed that her 'stalker' was one of those queer disturbed men who had nothing better to do.
"God, Granger do I have to spell it out for you? You are a witch -use your wand!" Draco exclaimed through gritted teeth as he struggled to hold the door.
Hermione glared at him as she too struggled to keep the door shut against the eight men pounding against it. "Malfoy, you do realise that any more magic would be a perfect indicator to whoever is chasing us?" Draco frowned slightly, thinking of a way to get them out of their predicament.
"Move!" he yelled with sudden gusto, pushing Hermione to the side and tumbling after her as the door burst open and all eight of the men fell head first into the corridor. With a fluid move he grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her into the hotel room and shut the door, locking out all eight of the men in the corridor.
The room was large, it was a full blown executive suite, encompassing of several bedrooms and a living room which they had entered into. Draco studied the room, looking for ways to escape while Hermione inspected the bedrooms, seeking for information about the men.
"Malfoy?!" she called out in uncertainty as she found what she was looking for. Draco frowned slightly as he ran towards Hermione, he had estimated that it would take approximately 10 minutes for one of the men to run down and collect an extra key from the receptionist. They had a max of six minutes left to get out of the room and they had yet to find a means of escape.
"Granger?" he called out has he entered the room.
Hermione pointed to the contents of a suitcase that had been strewn across a table. There were two photographs of Hermione and Draco, followed by a short description beneath them, but that was not what Hermione was pointing towards. Draco snatched up the scrap of paper beneath her finger and read from it.
"A black book is to be in possession of the girl. Steal it from her and get rid of the boy. Bring the girl. Rooms 308 and 309"
"Funny, there is no mention of the old man." He murmured to himself as he crumpled the paper in his palm.
Meanwhile, Hermione had walked into the adjacent bedroom and took a look at the several monitors placed on a side table. She then realised what the screens were depicting, her room and Malfoy's room had been rigged with video cameras, allowing the men to keep tabs on both of them.
"Granger!" Hermione heard Malfoy yell out as she headed towards his voice.
"We need to go now." He exclaimed, throwing open the windows in the living room. Hermione peered out of them, they were on the 10th floor, it was a long way from the ground. Hurriedly she withdrew herself from the window ledge. "Are you out of your mind Malfoy! It's a 20 metre drop, there is no way we are going to survive that."
"I hope you have another plan Granger." Draco replied as he heard the click of the door opening. Hurriedly Hermione ran for cover, hiding in one of the many cupboards.
Draco swore under his breath has he hurriedly crouched beneath one of the many covered tables.
The door swung open and the eight men filtered into the room. Hermione observed from the crack between the cupboard doors as the men started to ransack the suite in a futile search for them. She held her breath as one of the men walked right passed the cupboard she was hiding in. Suddenly he bent down and reached out to open the cupboard. Swiftly, Hermione kicked open the cupboard doors, catching the man squarely in his face, momentarily blinding him. Hurriedly she crawled out of the cupboard to find Malfoy already tackling the other two men which had rushed to their comrade's aid. The remaining five men were hastily running back into the living room from the bedrooms they had searching in.
"Get out of the way, Granger!" Malfoy yelled as he hurriedly pushed Hermione aside and expertly kicked and rendered one of the men unconscious as he was creeping up behind Hermione.
In return, Hermione delivered a powerful round house kick, bringing his colleague to his knees. The remaining three of the men were now observing them with slight wariness as they approached.
With a yell in unison, the three of them ran towards Hermione and Draco, in hope of tackling them together. With two sharp punches, and a swift jab to his mid section, Hermione managed to take down one of the men, in the same time it took Draco to effectively impair the other two men for a long time.
Before any of the men could get back on their feet, Draco ran and jumped out of the window. Hermione hurriedly rushed to the window sill and peered out. Malfoy was not to be seen. A groan was heard as the men were pulling themselves to their feet.
Hermione sighed in resignation and jumped from the window ledge. She braced herself for the impact when suddenly she felt her hand being wrenched upwards and she was pulled into an under hanging balcony.
"Granger, think I'd let you fall?" Draco questioned as he pulled Hermione up to the balcony.
Clamouring over the railing Hermione turned to looked at him with a smile on her lips. "If you did, my ghost will haunt you for eternity Malfoy!" She hissed through gritted teeth as she peered into the room which the balcony was connected to.
"Alorhama" Draco stated unlocking the balcony door with his wand.
Before Hermione could react, the glass balcony door which she was leaning on swung open, dumping her unceremoniously on the floor.
Hurriedly she got up dusting herself, shooting a venomous glare to Malfoy.
"Are you out of your bloody mind?! We could get-"
"Granger, shutup. Unlike you, I want to get out of this alive, so if you don't mind." Before Hermione had any idea of what was happening, she felt herself being unable to move her limbs and she slumped to the floor.
Her eyes flashed angrily at Malfoy as he picked her up and swung her over his shoulder like a duffel bag.
Seconds later, she heard him calling for their belongings which appeared swiftly in front of them. He proceeded to shrink their bags, slipping them effortlessly into his pocket. With that, he marched out of the hotel room and proceeded to leave the hotel swiftly through the kitchen exit. All the time Hermione glared murderously at Malfoy's back, plotting the numerous ways she would slaughter him once she was released.
Unknowing of Hermione's thoughts of his immediate demise, Draco carried her out of the hotel and into the forest just beyond where he had noticed his professor concealing the horses.
Placing Hermione atop her horse, he swung onto his own stallion and squeezed the flanks of it, sending them deeper into the forest. He then released Hermione from the spell. A good minute of silence passed in which Hermione hurriedly tried to ensure that she had a good seating on her mare. Then she began her verbal slaughter of the boy named Draco Malfoy.
"Malfoy! How dare you, you're infuriating! I..I can't stand you! Are you out of your mind? We are supposed to wait for professor, not rush off with no notice into the depths of some random forest. We could be killed! You're raving mad!" Hermione declared, trying to bring her mare to a stop.
"Granger, would you shut that pretty mouth of yours and ride."
"No. we are supposed to stick with the professor, not wander off!"
"You don't get it do you? Gods Granger! He is a fucking traitor. Do I have to spell it out for you. Now move."
"NO! what on earth makes you think he betrayed us. For heaven's sake, if Dumbledore could send him with us then I am quite sure that professor is a credible and reliable source. You know what's your problem Malfoy? you just don't trust people! You never did, that's why you find it so hard to agree with me." Hermione exclaimed loudly.
A slow minute of silence passed as the two glared at each other.
"You know what Granger, you are right. I don't trust him. That's why I'm still alive right here right now. Sorry to break it to you but it is a tough world out there." Draco drawled in a condescending tone before urging his horse forward.
Hermione looked on as her horse followed behind his. She glared at the back of the blond haired boy in front of her, still unable to believe her bad luck at being stuck in such a bad predicament.
The sun started to rise just over the treetops.
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