Sorry it took so long to get this up! :D But here it is! So happy I have 45 reviews! :D I had to listen to that song 'Brimful of Asha' which repeats the number 45 a lot in it xD Ok so I'm weird! Anyway ignore my ramblings and ENJOY!
So it was decided. Hermione, Fred and Draco would go to Bologna, Italy for the duration of Hermione's recovery. Draco owled Gregory to pack his things and have them sent to St. Mungos for him. Fred went home briefly to pack his own bags and Ginny took charge of fetching Hermione her things, everyone made sure she left her bed as little as possible.
They received a message from Percy saying that he had not been able to find Hermione's parents yet, but he was close and would tell them to visit her in Bologna when he eventually caught up with them.
Dr Ramshaw had told Fred and Draco that Hermione was NOT to apparate or use the floo network anywhere for a while in her fragile ill condition. The twisting, pulling and falling of the travel forms would leave her too disorientated and even more ill; her body would find it more difficult to heal. Besides, the risk of splinching was strong as three people performing a side-along apparition to a place where two of them had never been before, spelled disaster.
Hermione laughed out loud at the boy's reactions when they heard they would have to take muggle transport to Italy. Fred was excited and full of joy at the prospect of using a muggle aeroplane. Needless to say, Arthur was incredibly jealous! Draco's face immediately turned into a scowl of contempt. He was annoyed that a journey that could have taken 20 seconds was now going to take nearly a whole day!
The day of the holiday finally dawned. Hermione was still in the hospital, under professional care and supervision until the very last minute. Ginny helped her to change into comfortable travel clothes; jeans, shirt, a hoody and her worn but comfy old trainers. Fred appeared at her side as soon as they were ready to go.
"C'mere, you! Give me your arm. Draco'll take your bags, won't you little ferret?" Fred grinned mischievously back at Draco who glared in retaliation but still picked up Hermione's luggage.
"How're we getting to the airport?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject to something neutral.
"Dad's car of course! I'm driving!" Fred winked down at Hermione who furrowed her eyebrows.
"Can you even drive Fred?"
He mocked looking wounded.
"Why of course I can, have a little faith!"
Hermione sighed aloud, shaking her head and she swore she heard Draco mutter to himself:
"We're all going to die!"
She suppressed a giggle and the Weasley family, plus Hermione and Draco continued through the hospital. Dr Ramshaw was standing by the front desk which had a prim looking witch sitting at it, scribbling away with her quill.
"Ah Miss Granger. Ready for off then? Well, be careful my dear. Don't do anything too strenuous and Mr Malfoy, I've been doing some more research. You cannot leave Miss Granger for long periods of time. An hour or two at the most! I do not wish to know what would happen if you do…" he trailed off looking worried.
"Of course. There's nothing to worry about, Doctor. I'll help her as best I can!" Draco nodded solemnly. Fred glanced at Malfoy.
"As shall I," he spoke determinedly.
Greg Ramshaw smiled kindly at them both.
"I don't doubt it. Now, run along or you'll miss your hairy-o-plane or whatever it is!"
"Aeroplane." Hermione corrected before smiling. She walked over to Greg, with the help of Fred and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you so much for your diligent care, Doctor!"
Greg was taken aback at first but returned the hug.
"You're very welcome. Now go on!"
And with that, the three piled into the car, Hermione stretched out on the back seat and Fred and Malfoy in the front. George leaned in the front window, next to Fred. Hermione could tell this was hard for him. The twins had never been separated for more than a few weeks.
"Be-" he cleared his throat. "Be careful, Freddie. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he winked, masking his worried thoughts but Fred, being his twin saw through it.
"Don't worry, man! I'll come back alive and kicking. It's only Italy, not the North bloody Pole! Visit us anytime…please!" he grinned up at George. George smiled back before giving his brother a quick hug, awkwardly through the window. Molly was next, practically pushing George out of the way who gave a "Hey!"
"Fred? Fred dear, make sure you don't get too cold, you'll be there for the beginning of Winter! And make sure you eat enough! Don't do any stupid pranks! And look after Hermione. Oh and try not to fight too much with Draco! And make sure you-"
"Mum, I'm 22, not 4 years old. I can look after myself. But thanks for your concern. Love you mum!" he smiled, before pecking her softly on the cheek. Molly looked close to tears as she peered through the windows to the back where Hermione lay.
"You be careful too dear. Look after this young rascal for me," her voice wobbled a little. Anyone would have thought they were leaving them forever! But Hermione smiled and reassured Molly that she most definitely would. "And most importantly look after yourself!" Molly commanded in a stern yet somehow gentle way.
Molly bustled round the car to Draco's side, who looked pretty surprised at the small witch's appearance at his window.
"You look after yourself too, Draco! Be careful dear…" she patted his shoulder awkwardly and he didn't shy away at the touch as he would have done several days ago.
"Thank you…Mrs Weasley," he nodded, looking slightly stunned. It had been so long since he'd felt anything like motherly love…
"Right then! Enough of this time-wasting! To Italy!" Fred crowed, starting the car. He put his foot down and the car jerked before the engine stalled.
Draco sighed and repeated what he said earlier but louder so that Fred could hear.
"We're all going to die!"
Hermione laughed aloud this time and even Fred managed to chuckle.
Soon they were thundering down the motorway, headed to Gatwick airport. Hermione was dozing lightly as the boys argued about what music they wanted to listen to.
"No way! No way am I listening to that funeral music!" Fred growled, his eyes fixed on the road.
"It's not funeral music, I'll have you know these are the greatest composers of the wizarding era! Just because it isn't telling you to 'do it like a hippogriff' doesn't mean it is bad music!" Draco glared back.
"Actually…" Hermione mumbled from the back, half asleep, "I could do with some soft and slow music…"
Draco smiled victoriously, before tapping his wand to the dashboard and muttering a charm. Sweet orchestral music filled the car and Fred rolled his eyes but continued looking ahead. Anything for Hermione.
After a few hours of hair-raising lane changes from Fred, sarcastic comments from Draco and gentle reprimanding from Hermione, they arrived at Gatwick alive and intact, "A miracle!" Draco made sure to say.
Fred helped Hermione out of the car and they set off for the bus to the terminal. He chivalrously carried both his and her luggage as well as having her lean heavily on him. An old dear moved out of her seat for Hermione to sit in. She collapsed into it gratefully as the bus chugged into life and zoomed off. Draco looked a little peaky, he'd not really used a muggle bus before, and he was being jostled about by the muggles.
"Give me the Knight Bus any day!" he muttered darkly as the bus went round a roundabout. The bus gave another lurch and a little muggle girl who looked about 4 years old fell forwards, grabbing out at Draco's leg for support. He quickly reached out and caught her before she fell down and set her right before gently patting her head. The little girl's mother thanked Draco and he awkwardly nodded his head. No one else had noticed his actions, except the girl, her mother and Hermione. She smiled to herself. He wasn't as mean as he made out to be.
Shortly the bus pulled up at the huge terminal and Fred immediately moved to help Hermione as Draco picked up their bags.
"Where to, Granger?" he drawled.
Hermione pointed to where people were streaming into the large building. They made their way over, stepped into an elevator and arrived on their floor.
"Right! We need to put these bags into the hold!" Hermione instructed, nodding towards the bag drop off desk. She had had the incredible foresight to check in online when she'd booked the tickets with Arthur Weasley who was fascinated with the muggle internet. The boys looked bewildered at all the muggle sights around them but Hermione, being muggle born, didn't notice anything as they made their way to the desk.
Fred let go of Hermione to lift the heavy bags onto the conveyor belt and she wobbled slightly, weak from the illness and several days of inactivity. Suddenly arms were round her, holding her steady. She looked up.
"Ah…thank-you…Draco…" she smiled awkwardly at him. Fred turned then to see if Hermione was ok and caught sight of Malfoy holding her securely in his arms. Something tightened in his stomach, his muscles tensed and he turned quickly away to answer the muggle woman at the desk.
The rest of the journey through the terminal was uneventful. Draco practically shrieked in shock at the security guards when he was pulled aside and most thoroughly searched, which caused Hermione to giggle as she sailed through without searching or suspicion.
Fred was helping Hermione along now and he gently set her down in a chair by their gate to wait for boarding. Draco walked away to find tea and coffee, using his muggle money and Fred sat next to her. All he wanted to do was hold her tight to him, to feel and know that she was his and he was hers. She turned to him and smiled that breath-taking smile at him. That was it. He reached over and pulled her onto his lap, burying his head in her hair.
"Are you alright, Fred?" she asked softly.
"I'm…it's just…I'm worried about this trip and about you. What if it all goes horribly wrong…?"
She sighed and leaned into him.
"Don't worry, Fred. We'll be ok."
Draco returned with the drinks, but Hermione stayed where she was and drank her hot tea on Fred's lap. They'd stayed cuddled up together until the tannoy announced that they could begin boarding.
"Any drinks or snacks?" the hostesses walked slowly past them.
Hermione looked up and sighed dramatically.
"You don't have any sedatives do you?" she was, of course talking about Fred who was sat in the window seat, bouncing up and down, poking Hermione, who was sandwiched in the middle of the two boys, shouting and pointing at the sights below him. Malfoy had bought some ear plugs and was softly snoring in quiet bliss. The hostesses smiled at her.
"Is this his first time flying?"
Hermione nodded with an exhausted expression. "He's got the mentality of a three year old, I'm telling you!" The ladies laughed and Hermione bought herself a drink. Fred turned, a huge grin across his face.
"LOOK IT'S THE ALPS! YOU CAN SEE THE SNOW! We could never fly this high with broomsticks! This is amazing! Muggles are so clever! Dad would LOVE this!" he burbled. Hermione simply smiled and patted his hand, before leaning her head back on the head-rest and closing her eyes, trying to sleep. An announcement came over the speakers then.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're about to go through a little turbulence, nothing to worry about. However we advise you to stay seated for the safety of you and the other passengers." Hermione groaned. She hated turbulence. Fred looked confused, so Hermione quickly explained what it was. The plane started juddering slightly then stopped. That was it? It wasn't. The plane gave a lurch. Both Fred and Draco clutched Hermione's hands tightly.
"What the HELL is going on?!" Draco yelled looking panicked.
"It's just turbulence!" Hermione spoke softly to him. Both boys looked terrified. She removed her hands from the boy's tight and painful grips and put her hands over theirs, moving her thumbs in soothing circles. Eventually the shuddering of the plane subsided and the boys relaxed, Hermione left her hands where they were and quickly fell asleep.
About an hour late the plane landed in Bologna, Fred had been again bouncing around in his seat as the plane descended from the clouds. They collected their luggage and made their way out of the airport, to a taxi.
"Well then, where to, Draco?" Hermione smiled. Draco gave the address of the flat they would be staying in to the driver and Hermione was shocked when she heard him speak the Italian language with ease.
"You can speak Italian?!" she gasped.
"I can too…" Fred shrugged as if it were normal.
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. "I can't…" The boys both looked at her in astonishment.
"There's something that Hermione Granger can't do?" Draco's eyes widened in mock surprise.
"Well…I only ever did a bit of French in my primary school before Hogwarts…"
"Ah! Well I learnt Italian, French and German before Hogwarts." Draco smirked proudly.
"I just learnt Italian. George chose to do French. There wasn't much to do before we started Hogwarts so mum had us learn languages so we didn't get into trouble! Imagine that! George and I, in trouble!" he winked down at her as they clambered into the back of the taxi.
"Well you'd better start teaching me!" Hermione sighed, they were going to be there for a few months so she may as well learn.
Fred smiled at her before declaring to his two companions and the driver: "Andiamo nel nostro cammino". (Which means 'Let's goon our way')
Right there you go! What do you think? I reckon it's gonna be awesome writing about these three in Italy! I think that I'll just write it so when the boys are speaking Italian; it'll just be English in italics so we can all understand it (I don't speak Italian either, but I like it) :) Also, I love reviews and it's Christmas soon so a review could be my pressie! hehehehe ;) xxx