Down with the Bells
Chapter 2: Horseless Carriage.
Fidgeting is definitely not something a Malfoy should do. Doesn't fit the image.
But as Draco watched Hermione Granger stand from her seat and start making her way to the teachers table, he just could not help but fidget.
He had promised that he would follow her after only a few minutes, turning in his wand and resigning himself to life as a muggle. It was something that before this morning he had never considered an option. He ran his reasons over and over in his head in a seemingly endless circle.
Being raised in the Malfoy household, people who were obsessed with blood-status almost as much as they were with social status, he had a clearly painted picture of what was expected of him in his life.
Go through school with the best marks he could get, graduate, allow his father to retire as he takes over the family business. (A business which was going under as of this moment, due to his parent's infamy.) Once settled, get married to a respectable pure blood woman and pop out an heir, who will go through the same process.
It had been that way for generations. And as boring as it may seem on paper, it's one hundred times worse in practice. As he listened to the shocked whispers in the great hall and watched Granger turn to begin her trek out of the hall he knew it was his turn. 'I wonder if I'll feel free after I do this?' he wondered to himself.
As he stood, picking up his shoulder bag which, due to a clever spell by Granger, now held all of his belongings. He hated to admit it, but she really is a superior witch. 'Was...was a superior witch.' He reminded himself.
He remembered all of the times he had thought of what his life would be like if he were free of the expectations of his emotionally distant family.
'Guess I'll just have to see, wont I?'
Taking strength from those thoughts he began the same trek Granger had just made.
Meeting her at the halfway point they exchanged a slight nod that didn't go unnoticed by the other students. Whispers gave way to shouts, mostly from the Slytherin table and his year mates. Yells of "Don't do it!" and "It's not worth it!" and "But what about us?"- that one from Pansy - were filling the air.
Ignoring them, he continued walking. The aisle seemed much shorter than it ever had, and before he knew it he was standing at the head table. As soon as he was sure that no one other than the professors and Headmistress could see his face clearly, he allowed the long practiced sneer to drop and melt into and sympathetic half smile.
'Merlin's saggy left nut, does she look like hell!' he thought, eyeing McGonagall's haggard face. He carefully removed his wand from the arm holster where he had it hidden under his left sleeve. Setting it down next to Hermione's he whispered softly to Headmistress McGonagall "I'm expecting you to take good care of this until this is all over. I don't fancy losing it again."
Standing straight again, he said in a clear voice for everyone to hear, "If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom. And the irony of it, is that if it is comfort or money or even magic that it values more, it will lose that, too."
Draco did not fully realize the wisdom and depth of his words, nor did he realize how well he was hiding his panic from his peers as he made his way out of the hall with his head held high and a look of confidence he did not feel. He was too busy wondering if everyone else could hear his heart's fast and wild rhythm as it pounded in his ears.
He saw Hermione waiting for him just as he made it out the front door to the school.
Hermione had not been standing outside very long when she saw Draco exit the school.
As his eyes landed on her, the arrogance and self confidence which seemed to be constantly present in his expression evaporated. By the time he reached her, his face was contorted in barely restrained panic.
She offered him a reassuring smile, as she took his arm gently and began leading him in the direction of Hogsmeade station to wait for the train.
"Everything's going to be alright Draco. You're not alone, I won't let anything happen to you." She said softly as they walked, hoping she sounded more sure to him then she did to herself.
Draco didn't answer, and they fell into a strained silence. But she didn't take her hand away from his arm, wanting to assure with that slight contact that neither of them would turn and run. As they continued walking, she tried to come up with a plan. The two of them couldn't very well hang around a train station until this stupid 'Marraige Law' thing blew over. They needed a place to stay, food, MONEY...
By the time they'd made it to the platform she decided to wait on setting up a solid plan until she had the chance to call her parents from Kings Cross. There was not much else she could do, until they were back in the muggle world. She absently motioned for Draco to sit on one of the two benches available, when she was startled from her thoughts by the sound of someone calling her name.
Turning around she saw Ron, Harry, and Ginny running at top speed toward her, from the school.
Ron reached her first, well ahead of the others,because of his long legs, and he looked like he was about to pass out. He dropped to his knees, holding up a finger for her to wait as he caught his breath.
The other two had nearly caught up when he finally looked up at her, still very much red in the face and breathless. "Hermione you don't have to turn in your wand! I'LL marry you!" he cried. His face was expectant, as though this revelation afforded an immediate swoon on her part. She felt like slapping him.
When Hermione didn't instantly fall into his arms in a grateful heap of swooning girly uselessness, Ron carried on. "Listen, I know you don't like blokes, but we can work around THAT! I'm sure there is a spell somewhere that can fix you!"
Everyone but Ron froze in shock.
For a moment Hermione's mind went blank with pure indignation as she looked down at Ron. His expression was still expectant and excited, as though he were offering up his life in exchange for hers, while simultaneously rendering her capable of spontaneous, chocolate flavored orgasms. Which he clearly believed was exactly the case.
She snapped out of her shock induced stupor, and her face took on a look as though she had just smelled a dung bomb, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "Actually, RONALD, I happen to like men very much. How sad it must be for you, to lack the a Qualifications!" She said, in the sternest voice she could manage. She winced slightly, trying not to think of the 'qualifications' Ron lacked.
Harry snorted, and stuffed almost his entire fist in to his mouth as he tried to stifle his laughter. Ginny also tried to hide her smile behind her hand, but could not conceal her giggles.
Draco just outright laughed. Big, loud barks of laughter, he stomped his foot as his face started to turn red; he could not seem to breath right.
Ron got to his feet, looking as though he has just bitten into an under-ripe lemon. As he turned to make his way back up to the school Hermione almost didn't catch his mumble of "Well you can't say I didn't try" before he turned the corner.
The sound of a train whistle reached them, and Hermione's heart jumped to her throat. Ginny turned and hugged Hermione.
"Don't dwell on my dumb ass brother." Ginny whispered to her, before wishing her good luck and stepping back to allow Harry through.
"We would come with you, you know we would." He said, frowning.
Hermione nodded. "It's ok, I know." she whispered, still a little choked up.
He hugged her close, as he told her,"Ginny and I were planning to marry, anyway, it won't effect us as much. And someone's gonna need to be able to let everyone who's going to leave know what's happening." There was an edge of pleading to his tone.
She hugged him back tightly, not sure who she was trying to convince when she replied. "This shouldn't last too long. Not once they've realised how this law will drive away muggle borns and half bloods better then Voldemort ever could have dreamed of."
"Maybe even purebloods." She heard Ginny mumble, and caught her eyeing Draco.
Hermione smiled as she pulled back from him."I still expect you to keep in touch though." she said, pointing at both Ginny and Harry. The three of them smiled.
Soon after Harry and Ginny left, reluctantly, Draco finally managed to pick himself off the ground were he had fallen in his fit of hysterical laughter, and the two of them boarded the train. They sat at the very front, since they were the only ones on board.
As she watched hills and fields pass swiftly outside the window, Hermione decided that she didn't want to spend the whole trip in silence. Particularly silence as awkward as this.
"What's your favorite color?" she asked abruptly.
Draco looked at her, his eyebrow raised. It took him a minute to realise why she was asking. 'Might as well get to know each other better...' he thought, feeling both resigned and nauseous. '...if we are going to be living together.' Mostly nauseous.
"Silver." He answered after a moment. "Yours?"
Without a thought she replied "Periwinkle. You know, like my dress robes for the Yule Ball."
"Yeah," Draco grunted, nodding. He definitely remembered those dress robes.
He glanced up a second later to see her looking at him expectantly. He panicked slightly - Was he supposed to compliment her on her dress robes? Is that why she mentioned her dress robes? Whats the big deal about her dress robes? - before he realised that he was supposed to ask her something.
"What made you think I would come with you?" He asked without thinking.
She frowned. "I don't really know." She answered, sounding thoughtful. She continued slowly. "But I hoped that with the interest you have been showing in the Muggle World... and the distain you have been expressing in regards to your family's expectations of you..." She shrugged. "I guess I just hoped that you might be open to it." She met his eyes."What made you accept my offer?" She asked quietly.
Draco sighed. "Alot of things." He said, running his fingers through his hair. He glanced up and saw Hermione settling herself into her seat, as if making herself comfortable. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
Draco shrugged. "Well, growing up I've noticed how distant my parents are from each other. I don't think they knew I noticed, or if they noticed it themselves, but my father never seemed to have any real affection toward my mother, or vice versa."
Hermioned leaned closer. "That's strange. I noticed how cold they were, but I just assumed that was for everyone else, not each other. Why would they get married, otherwise?"
Draco shook his head. "It was an arranged marriage. They're fairly common for witches and wizards in my crowd. It's what's expected, and I was no exception. But you know...and don't get me wrong, I love my mother." He said, holding up a hand to her. "But she isn't really, well, maternal. She and my father have separate rooms, and she locks her door at night rather than risk having another child with him."
Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?" She shook her head. "Is it just that one was enough?"
"More like another expectation." Draco said, smiling dryly. "Besides marrying a pureblood in order to preserve...well, whatever it is we want to preserve, in my family it's also expected for the woman to produce an heir." He gestured toward himself. "That was me."
Hermione just stared. She had no idea what to say to that.
"I'm pretty sure she loves me, but that's not why she had me." Draco said quietly, his eyes on the window. After a second he shook his head sharply, and turned back to her. "And then there's the family business."
"Family business?" Hermione's look of shock returned. "I just assumed you had family money and lived off the interest or something. I had no idea the Malfoys actually ran a business."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Well, I wouldn't exactly say we're 'Running' it. More like running it into the ground?" He watched her expression melt from shock to confusion, and sighed. "My father has no interest in the business. I don't know if it was because of his political aspirations with the Ministry of Magic, or whatever he was doing with You Know Who, but he spent almost no time at all with the business. Even now, instead of taking care of his responsibilities," Draco spat the word out, frowning. "He spends all of his time in spas and bars."
Draco was silent for a moment, and Hermione let that sink in. "What exactly does your business do?" she asked finally.
Draco looked up at her, and blinked rapidly. "Uh...it's some kind of development." His eyebrows drew together, as he tried to remember. "We develop new spells and potions and magical products." He shrugged.
"Is that what you were going to do after school?"
"One day." Draco said, nodding. "My entire life I knew one day I'd be in my father's shoes. Married to a pure blood woman with a least one child, running a company that's becoming obsolete. All I could hope to do was delay the marriage as long as possible, and maybe find someone I actually liked."
Hermione grimaced. "Then the marriage law happened."
Draco grimaced as well, his eyes back on the window. "I went from having a good years to find the right person and maybe salvage something out of my life, to having no time at all. I'd have had to pick someone and have a baby on the way before I was even out of school. It's like I'd spent my entire life struggling to slow my progress toward a giant cage, only to step in a bear trap I couldn't even see. It felt like the walls were closing in on me."
Draco turned back to her again, his gaze intense. Hermione fought against the urge to look away. "Which is why when you walked those stairs and offered me another choice, I took it. I have no idea what to expect from the Muggle world, but I know exactly how each step of my life would have turned out if I'd stayed. And after watching my parents my entire life, it wasn't something I was looking forward to." He shrugged again, finally dropping his gaze. Hermione took a breath, only just then realizing she hadn't been breathing. "I still think you're lying about the plague, and life without magic terrifies me, but today, for the first time in my life, I made a choice for myself and took my own life into my hands. Considering how I was raised, that's really significant."
Hermione watched him for a second, realising for the first time how little she actually knew about Draco Malfoy. She herself was not, as some might assume, completely socially inept. She knew this conversation was going to be a turning point in their friendship, if only a small one. She wanted to handle it right, and not scare him off. He was a boy after all, and from her limited experience with them, if you give them any indication emotions might be involved they'll scamper off and retreat into a little turtle shell of macho bravado and narcissism.
So she leaned forward and, copying his earlier tone, she said playfully, "I suppose you're just going to have to hope I'm not lying about the plague, then." She fought against her smile, but hoped he knew she was kidding.
Draco's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How contagious is it, really?"
Hermione jumped back, slapping her hand over her mouth to try and keep from laughing.
Draco just grinned and shrugged. "So, what am I supposed to wear in this different, plague-less, more-advanced-than-we-learned-in-school muggle world?" He asked, changing the subject.
Hermione jumped, startled by the question. "For now just take off your outer robe and that should do fine." She said, shocked she hadn't thought of that before. Of course he wouldn't know enough about that sort of thing. Until they could get him some regular clothes, they would just have to improvise.
Draco choked, looking scandalized. "You can't really mean for me to walk around like that, can you?" He sputtered, his cheeks flushing a deep red. "I'll be practically naked! I would look like-like, like some sort of deviant."
Hermione blinked rapidly, unsure of whether she should laugh or not. Surely he wasn't serious?
But he looked genuinely freaked. "I mean, I know you dress in such a revealing way when we're in our rooms, but I'm not that kind of a man!" He finished in a huff, pulling his outer robe around him as though to protect himself from the sex fiend sitting across from him.
Hermione held up her hand, realizing he was serious. "Calm down, Draco. That's just what muggles wear, ok? Socks, shoes, trousers, a shirt. When it's cold outside, maybe a jumper or a coat. Muggles just don't wear robes. Not unless they're in a choir. Everything is still covered, though, it's not really all that revealing." She ended in a much lower tone, and her eyes widened when she came to a realization. "Wait ,you think what I wear in the common room is revealing? Don't tell me this is why people in your circle are always so rude to muggle borns? You think we're tarts, or scarlet women or whatever?" Hermione's voice had raised in pitch, but really she was just trying not to laugh. The entire idea sounded ludicrous.
Draco shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. "Well yeah.." he mumbled, as though it was obvious. "Haven't you noticed that pure blood girls dress a lot more conservatively? The short skirts on the hogwarts uniform was a big controversy not too long ago." Draco hunched his shoulders, looking mortified. "And on the weekends they all wear proper clothing. You know, bloomers, chemise, corset, hose, underskirt, dress, tabards, hat and robe." He paused. "Oh, and a mantel, if it's cold."
Draco was staring pointedly at the table, so he didn't see Hermione's eyes get larger with every article of clothing he listed. "I...I guess that, in comparison, even in your robes you muggle borns don't seem adequately dressed. Ever." With how pale he was, his deep blush was clearly visible over his entire face. "It's just a general assumption that muggles wear less clothes because they have, just, drastically compromised moral values." His voice got quieter as he went along. "And considering how many girls are rumored to be on birth control potions and engage in premarital sex, it's not that hard to believe."
Hermione's mind was working over time as Draco talked. Several aspects she'd noticed about purebloods and their attitudes were starting to make sense as he explained their horrifyingly medieval way of dressing. If he'd said something about a wimple, or bliaut, she might have choked. She wouldn't be surprised, but she'd have choked.
Recently she'd start to formulate a theory, correlating the extended life span of the average wizard or witch with what she perceived as stagnation of societal norms. Of course, she hadn't realised this stagnation extended so drastically for the females.
She was bursting with about a thousand questions, which was pretty common for her. But Draco needed her help more than she needed another dissertation. She took a deep breath. "Listen, Draco, things work very differently in the muggle world. This is going to be an adjustment ,and it's stressful enough for you to begin with, so I need to be able to brace you for what's coming. I'm going to need you to tell me exactly what a pureblood's idea of a woman's place in society is."
Draco's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Could the muggle world really be that different? Well, it might explain how brazen and inappropriate the muggle-born were. But surely it couldn't be that different, that Hermione wouldn't know these things already.
He cleared his throat. "A witch's place in society is to keep her husband happy and raise proper children." He said, reciting the same speech his father gave him shortly after his thirteenth birthday. "When looking for a good wife, you want to find a witch that knows the proper way to conduct herself in public."
Hermione's voice was sharper than she meant it to be when she interrupted. "And what is the proper way for a witch to conduct herself in public?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
Draco flinched at her tone. He had the distinct feeling that he was dipping a toe into extremely dangerous territory, but continued to recite. "A witch is not to speak unless spoken to." He began, pulling from a completely different conversation he'd had with his mother.
He saw Hermione's jaw clench, and froze mid-word. He was absolutely certain that the best course of action for him right then was to run like hell, but Hermione sharply gestured for him to continue. He swallowed thickly. "She is not to pursue a man at any time, nor is she to be alone in the presence of a man that is not her husband, without a chaperon. She is to be polite and courteous to a man if he chooses to speak to her, while speaking as little as possible in turn." Hermione's eyes squeezed shut, and Draco finished in a rush. "A woman's proper place is on the arm of her husband, to be seen and not heard; or with her children, making sure they are behaving as the father has directed to be proper."
"You and I are alone now, without a chaperon." Hermione mumbled, her voice muffled by her hands covering her face.
Draco shrugged. "Well, you're muggle-born. We expect you to be inappropriate."
Hermione took a deep, bracing breath, and lowered her hands. "Draco, as I said before, things are extremely different in the muggle world."
It took most of the rest of the train ride to convince Draco that muggle-world-appropriate clothing wasn't indecent, but eventually Hermione got him to ditch his outer robe. Even so, he was quite twitchy as they stepped off the train and onto Platform 9 3/4.
"So you've never been anywhere in the muggle world?" Hermione asked, still a little shocked, as they walked toward the barrier to Kings Cross.
Draco shook his head sharply, tugging on his clothes nervously. "No. Never needed to." He said simply.
Hermione paused before the wall to King's Cross, and turned to Draco. "Ok, so, I'm hungry. Are you hungry?" Draco shrugged, then nodded, still tugging at his clothes. Hermione fought the urge to slap his hand. "Alright, so we'll stop somewhere to eat before heading to my parents' office. I'll need to call them before we get there, anyway. I don't want to startle my mother, given her condition."
Draco stopped fidgeting to stare at her. "What condition?" He asked sharply. He just knew she'd been lying about the plague! "Its not contagious is it?"
Hermione choked slightly, trying hard not to laugh in his face."No!" she squeaked. "She's about seven months pregnant with my little brother!"
"Pregnant? And shes at the office? Shouldn't she be at home in bed?" Draco asked, looking genuinely confused and a little concerned. Hermione caught a hint of something in his expression that she could only assume was awe.
Hermione had heard plenty of questions like this in the past few hours, ("Wait, muggle women wear pants? Do muggle men wear skirts? I don't understand." and "Girls wear what to swim?" and "What the hell are these 'movies' you keep talking about? Are they like broomsticks?") but it was still a little shocking hearing such anachronistic questions.
"No, Draco, there is no reason for a pregnant woman to be confined to bed unless there are complications with the pregnancy." Hermione said calmly, moving to step through the barrier.
Draco's head was spinning with questions. He had actually never seen a pregnant woman, witch or otherwise, and he was very curious about the process. Particularly for muggles, who clearly didn't have the ability to use the spells that witches used for a safe birth. So preoccupied with his questions, he didn't even give a second thought to following Hermione through the Kings Cross barrier, into the muggle world for the first time in his life.
Stepping into the muggle world, Draco was nearly swept off his feet by the pushing and shuffling crowd in kings cross station. Hermione was slightly more used to this sort of thing, and grabbed Draco's arm at the elbow and began to guide him toward the exit.
Draco was too shocked at the differences between what he had learned and what he was experiencing to register Hermione's hand on his arm at first, but when he did he flushed a deep red. He knew if he pulled away he would probably be trampled by the crowd, but he had always been told that only betrothed couples and spouses walked this way.
Hermione glanced over her shoulder at Draco as she cut her way through the crowd, and fought to keep from laughing. His face was redder than she had ever seen it, and he looked as though his eyes were about to pop out of his head.
"Do you like fish?" She asked, raising her voice to be heard over the noise on the platform.
Draco looked to her and back around him, a hint of desperation on his face. "Yes?" He managed to squeak. Is she didn't know any better, Hermione would have thought he seemed embarrassed.
"Oh good, then I know just the place for lunch." And with that they were off.
Hermione's favorite fish and chips shop wasn't far from Kings Cross, and Draco spent almost the entire walk pelting her with questions, almost compulsively. Hermione did her best to answer him (most of her answers were interrupted by him asking another) but after having to pull him back onto the sidewalk at an intersection she decided to cut off his frenzied questioning until she had fully explained how muggles had harnessed the power of the 'Horseless Carriage."