"Muggle London, eh?" Malfoy said cheerfully as he fell into step with Hermione. "Never been there. I've heard it's a death trap."
Hermione glared at him.
"Wrong thing to say, I apologize," he backtracked hastily. "I meant to say, I hear it's charming. Especially in the spring time. When all the… things are blooming." He waved a hand around, in an attempt to collect the missing vocabulary words. "So, why are you so dressed up? Going somewhere special?"
"They were my only clean clothes." That I could find, since Tornado Hermione swept through my room when I was trying to look nice for you. This whole thing infuriated her, really. He infuriated her. The way he spoke, the things he did, the way he looked at her… and now he was joining her for her hunt for decent- or at least, not French- food. Hermione craved a hamburger and fries covered in ketchup with a super sized Coke. She was positive the sight would revolt the platinum haired git and (hoped) he would run away, screaming like a girl.
Not that that was an insult. She knew several girls that screamed very respectably.
But anyway, Malfoy continued to follow her and continued to chat about nothing until Hermione stepped into a dimly lit alley and stood before a brick wall.
"Granger?" he said tentatively. "Are you alright?"
"Never been better," she replied briskly, pulling out her wand to tap a brick.
"Are you… sure?"
But then the wall began to move, and Malfoy found himself staring into a small courtyard behind what looked like a pub. Hermione stepped through the space and then turned to look at him, an impatient look on her face. She stood beneath a sign with "The Leaky Cauldron" painted on it, arms crossed, waiting for him to join her. "If you're planning on staying there, be my guest, but if you're coming, then hurry, as this wall doesn't like staying open for long."
"Didn't know you cared," Malfoy said with a cheeky grin and stepped through.
"I don't," Hermione assured him. "But my conscience wouldn't appreciate having your being smushed between a brick wall on it."
"Touched," Malfoy muttered.
Hermione wove her way through tables and chairs, dodging patrons and waiters of the odd sort of tavern, nodding to certain individuals as she made her way through. Her destination: the door. But just before she got there, she stopped. Malfoy almost ran into her, but managed at the last minute to avoid hitting her. She was staring at him, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
"Well, Malfoy, I'm afraid our time has come to an end."
Yes!
"You see, Muggles don't wear robes."
And you are…
"So unless you have something under that robe…"
Please don't. I mean, do! I mean… oh, bugger.
"…you aren't going to be coming with me."
"Oh," was all Malfoy said.
Yes! Yes! You did it! He's going to be gone forever! Or, at least tonight, which is just as good. Well, maybe not quite, but almost—
"Will this work?" he asked, unbuttoning his robe and taking the garment off.
MY VIRGIN EYES! Hermione slammed her eyes shut.
"Granger, open your eyes, I'm not naked."
The mere thought of a naked Malfoy made her promise herself that she wasn't opening her eyes until next Christmas.
"Granger," the voice had grown impatient.
Hermione allowed one eyelid to drift north about the width of a centimeter, eye trained upwards so if he wasn't telling the truth, she wouldn't see anything too scarring. Her eye, however, was not met with smooth, pale skin (not that she wanted to see it- bad mind!), so she opened it all the way and allowed its partner to open as well.
Warm? She had called him warm? Of course, that was referring to temperature, not degrees of physical attractiveness, but… well, Hermione forgot that she was far superior to the teenyboppers that did rate guys on a scale on looks alone. Hot. The boy/man (hard to call him a man since she'd practically grown up with him; hard to call him a boy when he looked like that) standing in front of her was hot.
He was wearing the black shirt she had bought for Ron. But Ron must be bigger than Malfoy, because what would've been a loose-fitting t-shirt on the Weasley was a wee bit tighter on Malfoy (try a rash guard). The shirt did nothing to hide the muscles that had developed from being on a Quidditch team for six years. He was also wearing the pair of black cargo pants she'd bought for Harry, which fit him perfectly. A silver necklace with a serpent on it hung around his neck and a silver ring adorned his finger.
Hermione could barely breathe.
Gone where the days of Malfoy looking more like an elf than a human. Now, he fully resembled a homo sapiens, with clear eyes and a ripped body and soft, shiny hair—since when did Hermione notice Malfoy's hair?! What was wrong with her?
"Will this work?" he repeated, thankfully unaware of the mental stress he was putting poor Hermione through.
"They'll think you're Goth," she managed, "but I think you'll be okay."
She promptly whirled around and marched out the door, walking up to a lamppost and staring up at it. She had to stare at something. Anything other than Malfoy and his gorgeous body. Concentrating hard, she ran her hand down the lamppost's side, feeling for the key-shaped lump on the side…
"Have you lost your marbles?" Malfoy asked.
Hermione smirked to herself. No, but it's certainly fun to make you think I have. "This," she announced to Malfoy, after finding the mark, "is our way into Muggle London."
"A lamppost," Malfoy said, eyebrows raised.
"Yes," was all Hermione said. "Watch carefully, then follow after me." She put her left hand on the pole and ran around it in a counterclockwise manner.
"Granger, is this your version of a pole dance?" Malfoy snickered, watching her spin around the pole.
"Ha ha ha!" she yelled back. Then she disappeared.
Now in the Muggle world, Hermione chewed on her lip, wondering how long it would take Malfoy to shift worlds. She was hungry, dangit. Too hungry to wait too long for the blonde ferret who insisted on joining her for food. She looked at her watch. I'll give him ten seconds. Ten… nine… eight…
Thump.
Hermione looked down at the boy on the sidewalk.
"You spun too hard," she said, looking down at him. "It's easy to get out of control. I do it all the time."
"So this is Muggle London…" was all Malfoy said, standing and wiping the dirt off his clothes. "Where are we going to eat?"
"No where expensive," she replied, "as I'm the only one that has any money."
Malfoy looked shocked that his money- for once in his life, Hermione thought with no small amount of satisfaction- would do him no good. "What do you mean?"
"British Muggles run on a different sort of money system," Hermione explained, her voice taking an authoritative ring, similar to McGonagall or Snape. "We have the British Pound Sterling," she showed him a bill, "also known as a quid."
"Wow," he blinked at the little piece of paper, "that's it?"
"That's it," she said. "We also have coins," she dug into her pocket and came up with an assortment of coins, "called pence. And I only have about six quid, ten pence left, so we better find some place cheap."
The two meandered down the street in silence until Hermione gasped. "Yes," she breathed, eyes trained on a building with a large golden "M" on the roof.
"What's that?" he asked, his gaze bouncing from Hermione's raptured state to the golden "M".
"That," Hermione spoke with reverence, "is McDonald's."
"McDonald's?"
"Dinner."
"Oh."
Without another word, Hermione nearly bounded towards the door. Yes! Hamburgers!
But Draco took three long strides, passed her up, and opened the door for her.
"Um… er… thanks," Hermione said, slightly flustered at the sudden show of manners.
"Any time," Malfoy said gallantly, following after her.
The smells of burgers frying and the sound of grease cracking and lots of fast-talking employees must've been a shock to Malfoy, having never been in the Muggle world, let alone a McDonald's during a dinner rush, but he didn't bat an eye. "Hold on for the ride," Hermione told him with just a trace of smugness. Now you're in my world, buster.
"Can I take your order?" A red headed boy no more than fifteen asked Hermione.
"One double cheeseburger meal, one eight-pack nuggets meal, and… oh, let me have an Oreo McFlurry, too."
"One double cheeseburger meal, one eight-pack nuggets meal, and one Oreo McFlurry. Your number is 242. Would that be for here or to go?"
"For here."
The boy totaled her order and handed her the two cups for soda. After handing over her precious pounds and receiving change, Hermione moved to the drink machine and began filling them with Coke.
"What are you doing?" Malfoy asked from behind her.
"Getting drinks, what does it look like?"
"I don't know," he responded truthfully. "We can really drink that stuff?" Malfoy pointed to the dark liquid with bubbles sporadically rising to the top. "Looks like something out of Snape's cauldron."
"Only this won't make you turn green," Hermione shrugged.
"242!" someone yelled.
"That's us!" Hermione said, handing the drinks to Malfoy. "Take these and go find a table to sit at. I'll be there in a minute."
"But-" But Hermione had already abandoned him in search of their order. Grabbing the tray loaded with food, she turned around to search for the blonde boy in all black. Shouldn't be that hard to spot… Ah, there. Hiding behind the large potted plant. Rolling her eyes, she made her way over there. "If you're trying to blend in with your surroundings, you fail."
"I was just-"
"Shut up. French fry?"
"I will never eat that food again," Malfoy said as they exited McDonald's, looking slightly nauseous.
"Well, we will never eat together again, so I don't think you'll have to worry about it, unless you get some other Muggle friend to take you out for fast food."
Malfoy looked at her.
"Not that I'm your friend!" Hermione clarified, just in case he was wondering.
"Right," he said with a nod. "Not friends."
They walked in silence, arriving at the lamppost.
"Purebreds first," she snickered, beckoning to him.
"Only if you insist," he smirked, grabbing on to the pole and rapidly swinging around it. After he had disappeared from sight, Hermione placed her left hand on the pole but paused before spinning around. What in the world happened tonight? Did we… he couldn't have actually… and there's no way I would ever… Oh, just stop thinking and spin around the pole, please?
Hermione obeyed herself. The dizzy feeling settled in as she spun faster and faster until—
Bump.
"Careful, Granger," Malfoy said, but his voice was devoid of the majority of disgust it normally held. "You spin too fast, you get out of control," he mimicked her.
"Shut up."
"Well, as I'm currently supporting you, I think I have the right to at least tell you not to do it again."
"Didn't ask you to catch my fall," she retorted. "Please remove your hands."
"Gladly."
Without asking permission, Malfoy followed her back to The Cat's Paw.
"Please tell me you're not planning on spending the night again," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"But I was looking forward to it," he replied, an evil glint in his eyes.
Said evil glint properly scared Hermione. Must get inside before he does something crazy. "Can I leave now?" she asked him, only half joking. Definitely time to hit the sack…
"Only if you promise to work with me on that Potions essay tomorrow."
Merlin. Is he joking, half joking, or… not?
"Um… I…," she said, rushing to the door. "Good night!"
Author's notes: Woohoo! Look at me go! Two chapters in one week! Aren't you proud of me? Some notes about this chapter… well, I've never been to London, but I quizzed my brother on the money system in England and I –think- I got it right. If not, please let me know. Second, the Muggle London to Wizarding London (is there a Wizarding London?) is probably not right. I scoured the HP Lexicon, and this was the best I could do. Hopefully this works with the way JKR intended it… if not… I'm sorry!
This is your back-to-school present from me, as I sadly return to the masses Monday… think of me while I'm drudging away at chemistry and Spanish… anyway, this chapter practically wrote itself. I'm not even quite sure I like what happened, but it happened so fast… here's a snippet of conversation between me, myself, and I while writing this chapter:
Me: Um, wait, isn't this a little OOC?
Myself: Your whole fic is OOC.
I: This is where the story needs to go.
Me: But… would Draco really be so nice to her?
Myself: Why wouldn't he be?
I: I think he'll realize that he was way too mushy tonight and fix it the next time he sees her.
Me: But…
Myself and I: Shut up and post the darn chapter.
Me: Okay.
So, let me know what you guys think. I've been pacing myself through this whole fic and I think the need for Hermione and Draco to finally act civil towards each other finally just… burst out. Let me know if it feels too… rushed, or whatever, or if you thought it was cool, or way overdue. Also, I'd like to ask your opinions on Hermione's character. Is she being, as one reviewer stated, a bitch? Let me know what you think. Thanks to everyone that read and/or reviewed!
Shoutouts:
To my newbies:
i- ::blushes:: wow, thanks. I don't get told I'm awesome that often… thanks so much for the kind words!
Ihatestupidwriters- hm, I took your review into serious consideration. But after thinking about it, I pretty much kept Hermione at the same emotional level as before. Hermione is an uptight character, and to be plagued by her enemy… well, I think she would react more or less in the way I described. But thank you for reviewing!
Dazedpanda- ::laughs:: sorry, not a club. I know I kinda raised expectations with that clothing bit, but originally, I had wanted her to go clubbing… but in the end, I figured it just wouldn't work. Sorry!
Missme- ooh, spiffy! I love it when I match someone cool… hehe…
Hermione- thank you for the compliment! I don't think I'm a Stephen King by any means, but I do enjoy writing…
Jewelwhisperer- ooh, spiffy name! My name is jewel, so I definitely dig your pen name. Wow… I made someone high… ::laughs::
Xxkayleighxx- aww, thank you so much! Here's more!
Draco's all mine- yay! Thanks for adding me to your favorites list… that makes me happy!
AclownNeverDies- clowns scare me. inspects you you're not one, are you? shudders something about the mask and makeup… you never know who could be behind it.. but thank you for reviewing!
Biggest fan of yours- wow, that name definitely boosts the ego! ::grins:: Thanks for reviewing!
Elle- thank you so much! Your review really made me smile- I feel so special when someone hard to impressed gets impressed by something I wrote… thanks!
To my crew:
Paprika90- hmm, you know, I don't think he would've been. Since he's very anti-muggle, I figure he would never have gone there. Who knows if he'll ever return ::laughs::
Monikkadaluver- yah, it was short, but this one was definitely longer… three pages in Word… woohoo!
ThreeEaredBunny- ::laughs:: I feel like we need to have a hug or something… all this love going around… hmm, grammar is a big pet peeve with me… I definitely tell people off for it when reviewing… but anyway, thank you so much for consistently reviewing! You rock!
Rinaula- hehe, yup, he does… but he's trying hard not to show it… ::shrug:: boys, what can I say…
IceSugarHigh- Agggh! I'm sorry! You –are- blue-chick… geez, I'm so stupid… but after that two month break, I'd forgotten pretty much everyone that reviewed me. It wasn't personal, I promise. ::sends Draco over with cookies to make up for it::
Elven at Heart- Ooh, vacation? Where'd you go? –And more importantly, why didn't you bring me? ::laughs:: glad you're enjoying it!
Karana Belle- well, you found out what happened :) Yeah, Draco and Hermione are cute… ::laughs:: I'm sure JKR would kill me if she heard me say that, though.
Insidiae- ::laughs:: You and blackonyx can have a little chat. Meanwhile, I'll just keep plugging away… I think I actually have gotten back into the swing of things! Yay! Course, watch, now I've jinxed myself…
ILUVRONWEASLEY- Hmm, that's really interesting that you love Ron, yet only read DM/HG… I'm sure there's a deep psychological meaning in this… perhaps you love him so much you don't want to risk reading a fic where the author ruined him…? ::laughs:: originally, I had toyed with the idea of sending her clubbing. But yeah, I figured she'd be so hungry that she wouldn't want to go have a party… she'd rather munch… thanks for the review!
Shimmering Evil- yes… puppy love… ah, what fun! Heh. ::shoots puppy love with a gun:: er… ::hides gun behind back:: actually, I'm definitely saving the kissing for… well, a long, long time. If this was at all plausible, they wouldn't kiss until… well, a long time. Heck, it's the 18th chapter and they're barely even friends!
Poetic-Mind- woohoo! You dance! laughs don't hurt yourself… yeah, so they hit Muggle London and returned alive… yay!
And of course…
Kate- woohoo! I still have my number one reviewer :) thanks for the compliments and everything. You're the best!