Chapter 4
"Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home…it's your responsibility to love it, or change it." - Chuck Palahniuk
MUGGLE FOUND DEAD IN ALLEY, MAGICAL FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED- ARE DEATH EATERS AT LARGE ONCE AGAIN?
It's a terrifying thought, ladies and gents, I know that to be true. But we can never be too careful after the Minstry's plunder all those years ago with their refusal to admit that the Dark Lord had once again risen-
"Is this really necessary?" Hermione implored as she teetered unsteadily. Draco caught her as she tripped with ease.
"Obviously," he smirked at her, causing a wave of irritation to sweep over Hermione.
"Come on, walking lessons?"
"All women should know how to walk in heels. And besides, you really shouldn't be complaining. Those are only 4 inches,"
Only 4 inches, Hermione scoffed.
"Don't scoff, it's not attractive on you," Draco chided.
"Who are you to tell me what is and what is not attractive?"
The blonde leaned down until his lips hovered inches from hers. "I'm your boyfriend," he said softly, emphasizing it with a soft breath.
Oh right. That.
But really, it was only eight o'clock in the morning. Draco had insisted that Hermione learn how to walk in heels, hence the walking lessons he was currently giving her. They had been at it for a half an hour at least and she had only managed to walk a few steps before tumbling over in a graceless heap. This was much to Draco's amusement and Hermione's expense.
She jumped backwards as she realized she was still in his arms after her last stumble. Hermione gripped onto his arm (which happened to be quite muscular from what she could tell) until she got her balance back. "Can we stop for now? I'm getting blisters," she whined, and Draco rolled his eyes unsympathetically.
"And I'm pretty sure the majority of my toes are broken because of you and those damned heels. Do you see me complaining?"
Hermione smiled sheepishly.
"I suppose we can give you a break…for now," Draco continued, and Hermione sighed with relief. She began to kick off the heels, glaring at them in distaste and muttering about 'abomination to shoes' under her breath as Draco watched in amusement.
"So, what do we have planned for today?" Hermione asked when she was comfortably flat footed on the ground. Draco almost crinkled his nose. Almost.
"We have to fix you up a bit,"
"…."
"What do you mean fix me up?" Hermione practically growled, but Draco just patted her arm as if he pitied her.
It was going to be a long day.
"Is this really necessary?"
"You said that already,"
"And I still fail to see the point of this,"
"Of course you do, Granger. Of course you do,"
"But," Hermione knew she was whining, but at this point she had reached a new kind of desperate. "I don't want to see her,"
"Watch it," Draco bit out. "She's my best friend,"
"You're not nice to any of my friends, why should I be to yours?"
Draco stopped dragging her suddenly and stilled, and Hermione had to make an effort not to crash into him. He turned around to face her, his face a mixture of emotions that had Hermione confused. "Yes, I'm not nice to any of your friends, but they haven't given me a reason to like them, either. Especially Weasley, hmm?" he pressed his lips into a thin line. That hit a sore spot. "Now, Pansy is offering to help you. That is giving you a reason to at least tolerate her. She doesn't have to do this for you. Respect that,"
Hermione chewed on her bottom lip a bit in thought. "She's hardly doing this for me," she couldn't help but voice her thoughts. Parkinson in fact wasn't going to do this for her, it was for Draco.
"Granger," Draco said in a warning voice.
"Fine, fine," Hermione muttered to herself as she continued stomping along behind Draco (once again finding herself annoyed with her lack of grace when she walked.) "Are we there yet?" she couldn't help but let her lips twitch in amusement at her repeated question. She watched happily as Draco's shoulders stiffened in annoyance.
"Do we look like we're bloody there yet?"
"We've been walking for hours," Hermione complained, finding great pleasure and entertainment in Draco's irritation. The blond turned his head over his shoulder to shoot her a glare.
"Its been minutes, Granger," When he caught sight of her trying to conceal her smile, he muttered in vexation and turned his back on her again. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Once again, Draco stopped in his tracks, and this time Hermione did crash into him. And quite ungracefully at that. Rubbing her nose, Hermione straightened, rolling her eyes when she found that Draco hadn't even turned around to check if she was okay.
Draco gripped onto the wrought iron gate and swung it open with ease. He stood aside and surprisingly gestured for Hermione to go in first. With a raised eyebrow, she did so, and immediately she was taken by the brick home before her.
It was nicely sized, two stories- it wasn't overly large. The white trim was eye popping along with the black shutters framing the windows. The lawn was manicured and pristine, not that Hermione expected anything less from the former Slytherin. She was led right up to the front door, where Draco knocked twice. Whilst they waited for a response, Hermione asked,
"Parkinson lives here?"
"Technically, Mr. and Mrs. Higgs live here," Draco said shortly, just as the door swung open to reveal a radiant witch. Immediately, Pansy flung her arms around Draco's neck, tackling him into a hug that may or may not have been wanted.
Because she wasn't tactless, Hermione pretended to count the stars in the day time sky rather than watch the two old friends bond. She felt as if she shouldn't interrupt their moment with her less than wanted presence.
After a long moment of suffocation on Draco's part, Pansy decided to give him some oxygen. "Its about time," she swatted him in the arm. The blond rolled his eyes.
He jerked his head in Hermione's direction. "Don't blame me, blame her and her slow ass pace."
No, really, chivalry's not dead.
Pansy's dark eyes slid over to Hermione's and scrutinized her. "Ah. Granger," she said. Before she knew what was happening, Pansy had Hermione's hand held above her head and was twirling her around. She clucked in thought. "Hmm, not as bad as you make her out to be, Draco," Pansy commented, scrutinizing Hermione, who resisted the urge to shrink into a self conscious ball. (And don't get her wrong, she resisted the urge to murder Draco as well. She settled on an icy glare that had him shuddering.) "But still, we have a lot of work to do. Come, come, Granger, step into my humble abode," Pansy dragged Hermione through the door.
Normally Hermione would have admired and complimented the beautiful home, but being hauled across the room at a Firebolt's pace wasn't putting Hermione into the greatest of moods. She followed Pansy up a flight of stairs and decided not to resist as she was pulled into a bathroom. She obeyed when Pansy pointed at a chair to sit in.
Once comfortably seated, Hermione looked at her former classmate. "Where's- er…" Hermione wracked her memory for the first name of Pansy's spouse. "The husband. Yeah, where's the husband?"
Pansy's eyebrow arched. "Terence," she accentuated the name, causing Hermione to blush profusely. "Is out on business,"
Terence, Hermione remembered. He had been seeker Harry's first year at Hogwart's. He was a Slytherin, and Harry had considered him halfway decent because he hadn't resorted to cheating like the other Slytheirn's on the Quidditch Team. From what she knew, Draco had replaced him as seeker in their second year.
"What am I even doing here?"
Pansy let out a little laugh. "I'm helping you,"
"How exactly will you help me?" Hermione asked suspiciously. The dark haired witch went over to the vanity and opened up a drawer.
"We're going to work on your style. Do you care about your appearance at all?" Pansy rifled through the drawer, her back to Hermione. The brunette bristled in irritation.
"As a matter of fact, I do, you little-"
"It was a serious question, Granger," Pansy turned, and Hermione deflated a bit when she saw the calm expression on her sharp features. "Do you ever doll yourself up, go out for a night with the girls, or just dress to feel pretty?"
Slowly, Hermione shook her head. She had never been one to be overly obsessed with her appearance. Sure, she liked to feel pretty, but it wasn't on the top of her priorities.
Pansy sat down in front of her. "Do you want to?"
Did she want to accept help from the Slytherin in front of her? Not really, no. But Draco had practically begged her to, the git, so Hermione breathed out a little sigh. "I suppose."
That was all the invitation Pansy needed. In seconds she had popped up, squealing like a teenager, and began babbling about what color eyeliner would bring out her eyes and other things of the sort that Hermione couldn't follow.
Pansy was back in front of her again, equipped with a mascara wand, and blow dryer, and some tweezers. Hermione could only follow orders as Pansy set to work doing goodness knows what. Her eyebrows were plucked, her hair tamed, and all sorts of things Hermione didn't even want to think about. She wanted to draw a line at getting her legs waxed, but Pansy just muttered a spell under her breath and with a cry, the hair was removed from Hermione's legs. She grumbled about the lack of warning for a bit before her eyes were attacked.
And the worst part of it all was that she wasn't allowed to look in the mirror.
Or rather, Pansy threatened to kill her if she did, and Hermione took the woman seriously. She looked quite threatening with a mascara wand.
Once Pansy had apparently finished with the makeup and other assortments of beauty product, it was time to move onto wardrobe. "Bermuda shorts? Really? You've got a butt, Granger, why not flaunt it a bit?" Pansy was in the middle of saying. Her critical eye had been roaming over Hermione for five minutes now, and Hermione was getting fed up.
"I have this thing, called class." Hermione said through gritted teeth. Pansy, of course, was unaffected.
"So do I."
Hermione snorted.
The dark haired witch narrowed her eyes. "The point is, there's a line between being trashy and seductive,"
Hermione remained silent as the other woman continued to critique her. "You've got some bust to. We cannot afford to hide that," she resisted the urge to squirm under Pansy's gaze. Pansy strut over to the door and slammed it shut before turning back to Hermione with a gleam in her eyes.
"Don't worry, by the time we're done, Draco's going to cum in his pants."
"Don't make me get down on me knees and beg you, Blaise."
"I actually think that would be quite entertaining. Drop down for me, would you?"
"Blaise,"
"Draco,"
"Don't play this game with me,"
"Oh, so we're playing a game, now?"
"Blaise!"
"Okay, fine! Merlin, what's got you so uptight nowadays?" Blaise grumbled before downing the rest of his drink, compliments of Pansy. He shifted in his seat to fully face Draco, who waited anxiously. "I'll help you on one condition."
The blond leaned forward slightly, urging Blaise to continue.
The italian ran a hand through his hair. "You promise me, Draco, that you'll stop this whole mess you're getting yourself into before you get hurt."
"Blaise…" Draco began slowly, but he was cut off when Blaise held up a hand.
"No. No buts. I can't keep watching as you get yourself hurt, Draco. You're my best mate, it kills me to see you like that. And you know this whole thing with Granger isn't going to end well-"
"I know when to back off," Draco said, a chilly undertone lingering on his voice. Blaise stared at his friend for a couple of seconds before nodding.
"Right. So, where is Granger anyways? I haven't seen her in years…"
"Come on, Granger. Don't be a baby."
"I'm not a baby."
"Really, 'cause you're sure as hell acting like one. Get a move on, lets go!" Pansy shoved Hermione unceremoniously off her chair. Carefully wiping hair out of her eyes, Hermione glared at the Slytherin.
"I feel so…exposed," she started, but Pansy cut her off with a wave of her hand.
"You look fantastic. Seriously. Gorgeous. Any man would die to have you," Hermione's cheeks heated bashfully at the words. That was until Pansy continued on with her sentence. "And besides, its just Draco. You two are dating now, so he'll see you with much less on, eventually, I guarantee,"
The other witch fell into a coughing fit, which caused Pansy's eyebrows to shoot upwards. "Unless…" she eyed Hermione closely. "He already has?"
More coughing gave Pansy the answer.
"Oh!" she basically squealed, jumping up and down. "When did it happen? Was it good? He's absolutely exquisite in bed. And he's gorgeous! Oh, this is so exciting!" Pansy started spitting out words a hundred miles a minute, and Hermione could only sigh.
"Yes, its fantastic," Hermione said flatly. "And no one but you, Draco and I will know about it."
That stopped Pansy's excitement effectively. Her brow furrowed and face twisted comically. "Why?"
Again Hermione sighed. "Because I don't want people to know about it." Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Pansy's face immediately darkened.
"You mean you're embarrassed by him,"
Hermione quickly shook her head. "No, I just don't want the whole Wizarding world to know about it and assume that I'm only doing this to get back a Ron,"
"But that is what you're doing," Pansy pointed out slowly. Defeated, Hermione reached up to run a hand through her hair, but Pansy lunged and gripped her wrist.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!" she shrieked, panting hard as Hermione struggled to break away from her grasp.
"Alright, alright! Just a habit, no need to have a hernia over it" the brunette grumbled, snatching her hand away and rubbing her wrist. The other woman's grip had been so tight she honestly wouldn't be surprised if there were bruises there tomorrow. Oh look, its going a bit red now…
"Time to strut your stuff, Granger,"
That effectively broke Hermione out of her reverie.
"I will not be strutting. I will walk," she sniffed as she stood up. The Slytherin paid her no mind, instead shoved Hermione towards the door that led out to the sitting room where Draco and possibly Terence were waiting.
And with that thought, a sudden wave of anxiety hit her hard. It was like her throat had suddenly closed up as Hermione stared down at herself in uncertainty. She didn't feel any different, why was Pansy making a big deal out of her new appearance, that really wasn't that new? What if she really looked awful and nobody would say anything? What if this was some sort of juvenile Slytherin prank? What if Draco thought she looked bad?
"You look great, Granger, nothing to be concerned about," Pansy said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. The moment was nice for about .02 seconds, then it lost its touch. Hermione stared. "Right," Pansy snatched her hand away, "Neither of us are Hufflepuffs. No need to act like them."
Yes, Hermione actually thought she preferred this Pansy over a sentimental one.
"Lets go, flaunt that stupid Gryffindor pride that almost got you killed on numerous occasions!" with a final shove, Hermione was through the door and into the sitting room.
For the first time that day, Hermione mentally thanked Malfoy for giving her a heads up with the heels situation, because Pansy had shown no mercy when she forced a pair into Hermione's hands. With more ease than she felt, she stepped out, her shoes ringing softly on the polished tiles. At the sound of her entrance and Pansy's non too subtle throat clearing, Draco- whose back had been turned as he made small talk with Terence- spun around. A light blush highlighted Hermione's cheeks as she watched the grey eyes roam over her in appreciation, before snapping up to meet her own.
"Granger," Draco said breathlessly. "You look nice-"
"Don't say nice," Pansy immediately interrupted him.
"Pretty-"
"You can do better than that," more chiding.
"Beauti-"
"You're really settling on that?"
"You're wiping out my whole bloody vocabulary! Bloody hell, Granger, you look absolutely breath-taking," Draco cried in exasperation. "Happy?"
"That's more like it," Pansy smirked in satisfaction. Hermione felt a stronger blush grace her cheeks.
"Oh, uh, thank you," she shifted a bit uncomfortably on her feet. 'Absolutely breath-taking' wasn't something she had been expecting. Maybe a 'Thank merlin I can actually look in your direction without my eyes burning up', but certainly not that.
After much protest, Pansy had managed to get Hermione into a dark blue dress that clung at the top and flowed at the bottom down to a few inches above her knees (her smooth and hairless knees, might she add.) Pansy had given her a pair of gold earrings and a pair of gold bangles for her wrist. Her hair, still wildly curly, had been managed into something that didn't resemble a rat's nest, the result being 'a tousled sexy variety with a mix of playfulness' according to Pansy, whatever that meant.
And apparently, all of it coupled together had the look Pansy had been aiming for, because the blond had yet to tear his eyes from her.
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes (really, a girl puts on a bit of makeup and the man was drooling) Hermione asked, "Where to?"
"You'll be coming with me," a figure she hadn't noticed stepped forward, peering at her with a lazy smirk etched on his lips. "Granger, its been too long," he extended his arms out as if to hug her, but when Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, he lowered them in defeat.
"Blaise Zabini," she narrowed her eyes at the former snake.
"Ah, just as warm and fuzzy as I remember," the Italian man winked at her, and Draco coughed loudly.
"We're on a schedule, Blaise,"
"Down to business, then! Hop to, Granger, we've got work to do." Blaise was already in front of her and had his hand on the small of her back, leading her to the Higg's door. Bewildered, Hermione spluttered out,
"On what, may I ask?" as Blaise continued to lead her forward. With a look behind her, she saw Pansy giving her a 'don't thank me' look and Draco hurrying to catch up to the couple in front of him.
Blaise began to explain. "Well, Theo was going to work on etiquette with you, but then he went and eloped with Greengrass on us, so he's somewhat out of the picture at the moment. But no worries, you get to spend even more quality time with yours truly!" He grinned cheekily at her and Hermione again resisted the urge to act violently and swat him upside the head.
"My etiquette needs to work?! I'm a perfectly polite and proper lady!" she protested, and faith must have been against her because if it hadn't been for Blaise's quick reflexes, in the next moment she would have been tumbling to the ground and have broken a china set on display.
Blaise gave her 'the look'. She glared right back.
"As I was saying…" the man snickered, his hand again finding a place on her back. She knew she should probably push it off, in case he got comfortable and thought he could lower it a little bit more to other regions, but it was warm and made her feel a bit more feminine then she had in a long time. No, Hermione decided, she didn't particularly mind having the handsome man beside her assist her in walking. Merlin knew she needed it, especially after this mornings 'lesson'.
Terence swung open the front door. "Stop by anytime. And you too make a rather attractive couple, if I do say so myself," he winked at them. Hermione's cheeks automatically rouged.
"We do, don't we?" Blaise sighed and tugged Hermione closer to him. "And you know, beautiful young ladies like you always grace their partner with a kiss," he puckered up his lips for her. She rolled her eyes and was about to retort when someone cleared their throat behind them.
"If you two are quite done."
Blaise and Hermione spun around to find Draco standing with his arms crossed, face tighter than usual.
"Jealousy isn't a good look on him," Blaise whispered in her ear, and Hermione giggled, to spite Draco and because the man in question's face hardened even more as Blaise intentionally made her laugh.
So maybe this day might not be so long and horrible if she played around with her Slytherin 'boyfriend' a bit.
Unfortunately, that plan couldn't be acted on so soon. She found herself landed in a restaurant with Blaise, who was not the most pleasant of company.
"So, Zabini, what were you initially going to teach me before you got paired with Nott's task as well?" Hermione poked at the food on her plate before Blaise reached across the table and shooed her and her fork away. "What?" she asked defensively.
"Playing with your food is hardly admired, if you know what I mean," he ran an exasperated hand down his face. "I should have known this wasn't going to be as easy as I hoped,"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione was about to cross her arms, but again Blaise caught her just in time, for if she had, her arms would have hit the table and knocked off some of the silverware.
"Maybe I should have brought you somewhere less fancy for you to start out with. But then you wouldn't be emerged in the full culture of it…" he wasn't listening, pondering over is own thoughts. Hermione huffed in annoyance. "Don't do that, you'll get lines on your pretty little face." Oh, so he was paying enough attention to notice that. Hermione went back to huffing.
The restaurant was filled with pleasant chatter, a low and comforting hum in her ears. She felt entirely out of her element, with the seemingly endless amounts of silverware and pretty plates, she was even afraid to touch the pristine white table cloth. Merlin, Hermione practically face palmed, she couldn't even pronounce the name of the restaurant!
Maybe she would have felt a bit better if someone else had been accompanying her at the two topper her and Blaise were currently sitting at. Someone who would have made it more homy, less intimidating. Of course, Harry wouldn't have even thought to come to this place, and neither would Ron. Hermione swallowed thickly. But if only someone who she could easily talk to, and was used to this type of thing….
So now that she realized she was wishing that Malfoy were here instead of Blaise, Hermione cleared her throat. "You never did answer my question," she said. Her company stared at her blankly for a few seconds before a slow smirk crept up this lips, causing her to shift in her seat.
"I was going to help you with just personality help in general."
….
She knew there was a reason she didn't like him.