I ate 7 carrots today and two pints of carrot/fruit juice X.X I BETTER turn orange. Otherwise, this orange thing is pretty ridiculous. Just a tiny update on my turning orange-ness XD
This chapter goes to: - for getting the closest, as you'll see at the very end of this chapter/beginning of next one ;) and also Dramionelurver- because even though there were already 6 chapters, she still commented on every chapter she liked as she went. It made me happy to see~
"Hermione," someone called from downstairs, "someone's at the painting for you!"
"Thanks, Harry!" I yelled, trying to fix my disheveled look from my small nap. My parents had always told me that I fidgeted a lot in my sleep—that was one reason I always used to get such bad tangles. As I rushed down the stairs, Ginny smiled at me with a cunning look on her face; something she had gotten used to in the past week.
As I stumbled through the painting, I heard a voice mutter 'Orchideous.' I looked up to find a tall Slytherin with flowers now growing out of his wand. "For you," he said, smiling.
"Draco, haven't I told you that your niceness creeps me out sometimes?" I asked cautiously.
"But then I tried to be a 'bad boy' and that made you angry!" he exclaimed, "But I still have more pick up lines, if you want."
"Shoot. They're always fun to laugh at," I challenged. He used his index finger to beckon me closer to him, so I leaned in a bit.
"I made you come with one finger. Imagine what I could do with the rest," he whispered in my ear. But instead of laughing like I thought I would, it made a rush go through my body as he chuckled to himself.
"Weren't you just here less than an hour ago? What are you here for?" I asked him.
"I was hoping you'd like to take a walk around the grounds," he offered.
"Why would I do that when I could be napping?" I inquired honestly. I love sleep; not going to lie. Draco? Not so much.
"Slughorn said we should," Draco shrugged, "I was thinking it had something to do with the project."
"How would it help you recover any quicker?" I asked skeptically.
"He said that the more time I spend with you, the more I'll hate you and your incessant little whiny, filthy mudblooded ways."
Slightly offended, I said, "Well I can see it's already starting to work."
"Then a walk can't hurt can it?" he offered. Just then, a tiny, torn piece of parchment flew through the painting. I unfolded it and read:
I don't care if you go or not, but you better not come back here. Harry's getting excited, and you know how long I've been waiting for this.
Thanks much and good luck! -Ginny
P.S. Quite the lips, remember :)
As a habitual reaction to the note, I looked at Draco's lips. I rolled my eyes at my antics; staring at someone's lips is just silly.
"Sure, I'll go on a walk with you. But if they're not done in 10 minutes, I'm going back in no matter what they're doing," I answered him.
Draco quickly brightened up and said, "Well let's go then! Even if it's only 10 minutes, with everyone in classes, it should go much faster, right?" He smiled as he grabbed my hand and started running down the stairs toward the east wing of the building. Where on earth could he be taking me?
"Pick a letter: 'G','O' or 'B'?" he asked.
"Are you going completely mad? Gob?"
"Just pick a letter!" he yelled behind him, now pulling me through the corridors.
"G for Granger," I joked, "Now why on earth does that matter?"
He didn't answer as he let go of my hand and started running faster, no doubt just trying to fit in my 10 minute time limit. "Slow down or I'm walking back, Draco!" I called after him.
"Sorry, I'm just so excited to have a date with you!"
"This isn't a date," I replied firmly.
"Well then what do you call a couple going—"
"We're not a couple."
"Well what do you call two people in love that—"
"We're not in love."
"But it's a date."
"No, it's not."
"Aw, don't be a Dobby Downer on our first un-date," he chided.
"'Dobby Downer'? Really, Draco?" I thought to myself for a moment, "You really have gone mental, haven't you?"
"Only as mental as you," he replied happily. I finally caught sight of our destination: the greenhouses. That must have been the 'G'! 'G', 'O', 'B'…. Greenhouses… Owlrey and Boathouse! That only made me happier I chose 'G' instead of the other letters; who on earth wants to spend time in an owlrey?
"Draco, why did you take me to the greenhouses?" I asked nicely.
"I was hoping I could show you an extra credit project I started in Herbology all those years ago."
"Doesn't Professor Sprout have a class right now?"
"Yes, a second year class in Greenhouse 3. But that's not where we're going," at my confused look he explained, "We're going to Greenhouse 7."
"I've only ever been allowed in there once! And it was under dire circumstances!" I remarked, wincing slightly at the memory of the hex gone wrong that Ron cast on Pansy.
"Well yes, but I've been in here every day since the second semester of third year."
"How?"
"Well with all the classes that I took, there was one that my father wanted me to enroll in about proper entertaining manners and ballroom dancing," he started, "Which I must say was a rather abysmal and humiliating experience. I brought it up with Professor Sprout and she said that I could do an independent study. Every day, I had to come and care for my plants, and each week she would grade my effort, knowledge of the plants, and teach me if I was doing anything wrong. Every month she would add another plant to my repertoire. By the end, the whole left-most row was filled with my plants! But I got an extra credit, and I passed the O.W.L. so now I just kind of keep them alive. I can't say I put full effort into it anymore, because it's not for a grade, but it would really be sad if one of these little buggers died."
"Wow," I remarked back. If someone had told me a week ago—yesterday, even—that Draco gardened, I would have laughed; or maybe even bet them that all his plants would die before the school year was over.
"And it didn't even take a time-turner!"
"Oh, shove it, you prick," I said, while nearing the door to greenhouse 7. I couldn't wait to see the inside of the most advanced greenhouse in the school.
"Do you think you'll be okay going in without any protective clothing?" he asked me, concerned.
"Protective clothing?" I shrieked, "What exactly do you have in there?" But I never got my answer, because right then, he pulled me through the doors. Like Greenhouse 3, umbrella flowers lined the ceiling and the smell was outright pungent. However, very much unlike Greenhouse 3, there were a few plants I had never seen in person before.
"This little section right here," he motioned to me, "Is mine." The section he was talking about was anything but 'little.' I laughed to myself. There were at least four dead plants! He wasn't a master gardener after all! At first I was starting to get worried that he actually had a not prattish side. It would have just seemed too far out of his normal character. There was one plant that caught my attention.
"Draco, is that a fire seed bush?" I asked.
"Yeah. I was being stupid and put it right in the middle of my other plants. These two," he pointed to the plants on either side of the bush, "caught on fire and died last year. The other ones just recently caught on fire and died."
"Well you're a sucky gardener," I accused.
"Yep. Pretty much. Fancy a good snog under the fire seed bush?"
Quite the pair of lips, "Not particularly," I replied.
"Broom closet?"
"Not really."
"Empty classroom?"
"Nope."
"Snape's office?" he offered. At that, I gasped in surprise, "Kinky, hunh?"
"Not in the slightest. Now I'm going back to the common room. I'll see you in Potions tomorrow," I said, starting to leave. On my way out, I ran into Neville Longbottom by the door.
"Neville! What're you doing here?" I asked, curious as to why he'd be around Greenhouse 7. Everyone in our year knew that he was quite the advanced gardener, but Greenhouse 7 was a dangerous place; especially with Draco's fire seed bush in there.
"I'm just getting some protective clothing on so I can check on my fire seed bush," he explained.
"What?"
"Yeah. Professor Sprout has taken me on as her apprentice and gave me the entire left row to work in. She told me to try to replace the bushes on the side of my fire seed bush and give them some Mooncalf dung to try an' revive them," he clarified, "But what are you doing here? It's a restricted area without permission."
But whatever he was saying faded away as I headed back into the greenhouse. Taking advantage of Neville? Draco was definitely getting a piece of my mind.
Well, that chapter was a rather long-winded way of getting to what I was going for. And just to let you know, I'm not trying to mess with your minds; the plants really are Neville's. You'll see why Draco took credit for them next chapter~
And for people who review… what's your favorite number? If you have the same number as me, you're magic (and an avid reader ;)