Chapter Seventeen
"What is he doing?" Ron demanded, disapproving.
"I'm not sure," Hermione replied blandly, "He goes off on his own very often, so I'm sure it's just…"
"I'm going to follow him."
"But that's RUDE, Ron!" Ginny piped up, her eyebrows furrowing in agitation. "Just leave him alone."
"I don't care, I want to know what he's up to," retorted Ron.
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment and decided it was safer to side with his girlfriend on this particular issue, "Ginny's right, Ron. We should just leave Malfoy alone. Trust me, we'll be seeing plenty of him soon, anyway."
"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Ron wanted to know.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Duh, we're going to be visiting Hermione a lot, stupid. And to get to Hermione, we have to go to Malfoy's house… right?" This last thought was directed at her friend.
"Are you getting your own house, 'Mione?"
"I'm… not sure. There wasn't any mention of it – I never thought about it before…"
"I still want to know what Malfoy does when he slinks off like that," Ron protested, rising from his cushy seat.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "We're supposed to be getting our robes fitted for the ceremony!"
"Ginny, you're the only one of us IN the damn thing. To be honest, I don't even want to go."
"Ron!"
"That's okay, Ginny," Hermione interrupted glumly, "I don't really want to go either…"
There was a bald silence that ricocheted through the room; The three guests were instantly uneasy, reminded of the forced marriage and the failed attempt to resist it. Ginny looked down at her feet, as though ashamed of herself.
Finally, "There he is, the slimy git," Ron spat, pressing his face up against the glass of the big, French windows.
"Those windows open onto a balcony, you know…" Hermione suggested, taking note of the smudged glass in spite of herself.
Ron took a step back and inspected the windows; Harry opened them for him.
"Let's see what ferret boy does when he goes off…"
"Probably nothing! And aren't you going to feel stupid when you find out that's exactly what it is – nothing!" Ginny growled.
Ron shrugged his sister off; Harry began to play absentmindedly with Ginny's hair. It was such a loving gesture that Hermione had to look away, afraid of the emotions she would feel if she dwelled too deeply on the tenderness of such a simple act. She got up to join Ron on the balcony.
Draco was in the pasture farthest from the stables, just as Hermione had expected. She was beginning to learn his habits despite herself. She stood, statuesque in her stillness, as she watched Draco hop the fence to be with the horse he'd attached himself to, Turkin. The young man's platinum hair seemed to reflect the sun, his white pallor becoming more obvious. He was stroking the gelding's mane with one hand and whispering something in the horse's ear.
Hermione found herself enchanted; The sun was setting and the scene was one of utter peace. Without knowing why it happened, Hermione discovered her face had turned an embarrassing shade of crimson. She looked away.
"Hermione?"
She turned to look at Ron, who had spoken. "Yes?"
Ron sighed, "Do you think… this would all have happened if we'd stayed together?" His brown eyes were concentrated.
Hermione had wondered that very thought herself, but repeatedly dismissed it by reminding herself that there had been good reasons why she and Ron had broken up in the first place.
"I have wondered it, yes," she admitted, "but there's no use dwelling on it. We can't go back in time…"
But that wasn't right.
No.
They COULD go back in time. It was magic, after all. She had forgotten completely about the time-turner!
"What is it?" Ron asked quickly, taking good note of her expression.
"The time-turner," Hermione muttered to herself, "I've been so stupid! I could go back in time and…"
She sunk to the ground, legs splayed awkwardly around her.
"What? What is it?" Ron exclaimed excitedly.
"The Ministry of Magic would never condone it. That would be illegal…" she concluded blankly.
"We'll steal one!"
"They'll find out."
"We'll oblivate their memories!"
"It gets automatically put on records as soon as it occurs."
"We'll destroy the records!"
"They'll still know."
"We'll remove all traces of us ever…!"
"Ron," Hermione interrupted, agitated, "there is NO USE. The Ministry WILL find out. Time turners are some of the most regulated things in the wizarding world, especially now that there are so few left in England. If you'll remember, we destroyed the majority of them in our fifth year. Do you think those kinds of things are made in a day or even a week? They take MONTHS to make."
Ron opened and closed his mouth several times, his face slowly becoming the same color as his hair.
"Besides, how would that look if her own granddaughter ruined Callidora Black's reputation?"
Ron flared up at this, "Well it seems to me, Hermione, that she kind of owes you. I mean, she's ruining your life, maybe you should ruin the rest of hers."
This statement was like a revolution to Hermione, though she didn't consider it seriously: Even though Dora had made her life miserable, she meant well. Hermione's gaze flickered back to Draco out in the pasture; He was now running alongside the horse, who was slowing his pace to a trot in order for his human companion to be able to keep up. Hermione had never seen Draco run before – he was really quite graceful, the way the wind whipped his hair around and tinged his cheeks pink from exertion. His body was motion in a still painting, Hermione thought vaguely, though she couldn't quite figure out what that really meant.
There were two sides to Draco, Hermione finally concluded, a sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but less frightening. One side was the one Draco most often displayed – the snobbish and easily irritated Malfoy. That was how everyone knew him, even his closest friends.
But then… then there was the other side, the other person. This other half was the one he kept hidden from everyone: In fact, the only way to see it was when he thought no one was watching. This other half cared for animals, especially the horses. The other half had deep thoughts and watched the sun rise. The other half was an art critic and a proper gentleman. But most importantly, the other half was not Draco Abraxas Malfoy – it was just... Draco.
Ron, clearly angry, stormed off the balcony. A few seconds later, Ginny appeared and looked down at Hermione slumped on the floor.
"What's the matter?" she asked blatantly.
"Ron," Hermione grumbled, barely audible.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "I should have known."
A breeze swept by, ruffling up Ginny's hair. There was a pop and George the butler apparated onto the balcony beside Hermione; Ginny uttered a soft cry of surprise.
"Message for you, miss," George announced, chuckling. He pulled an impossibly tiny piece of parchment from his pocket and, bowed to Hermione, then to Ginny (who was blushing furiously). "Do cheer up, miss," he encouraged smilingly.
Hermione forced a smile onto her face; She was quite good at feigning emotions by now.
George cleared his throat, "I just thought you should know, miss, that the cat ate a whole ball of yarn just the other day."
Ginny stared at George obviously; Hermione blinked, "I wasn't aware we had a cat, George…"
He nodded seriously, "Oh, yes – the doctor says we're having mittens."
Ginny, always true to herself, burst into laughter. George openly grinned, as this was the reaction he had secretly always wanted from someone. He disapparated feeling accomplished.
Once he was gone and Ginny had calmed down, the girls turned their attention to the piece of parchment. "How are you supposed to read it?"
"I'm not sure," Hermione pondered. Who would send her messages that weren't by owl, anyway?
"Is it folded somehow?"
"No, it doesn't appear to be… Engorgio!"
The parchment swelled up to its normal size and the words were instantly legible.
"Clever," Ginny commented. "What does it say?"
Hermione's eyes scanned the page quickly, once over and then twice. "All it says is: 'Meet me in the upstairs parlor in the West Wing at ten o'clock tonight.'" The handwriting was unfamiliar. "But who could it be from?"
"Maybe it's from Mal… I mean, Draco."
Hermione's eyes scanned the short note once more, as though willing it to speak to her. "You're probably right."
"Are you going to go?"
"I don't see why I shouldn't."
"Maybe he's discovered another way out!" Ginny suggested brightly, her eyes sparkling.
Hermione refused to convince herself of this, because she knew that as soon as she did so, everything would fall apart all over again.
.
.
Draco was ten minutes late to the West Wing parlor that night, though it hadn't mattered: By the time he arrived, Hermione still wasn't there yet.
He snorted: She'd probably gotten lost. Imagine – getting lost in your own house! If she could get lost in Callidora's comparatively small mansion, he could only imagine the tumultuous floor plan she would develop in her mind once she finally set foot into his own home.
Draco's mind involuntarily began to wander. He imagined Hermione, dressed in some of the clothes similar to those his mother wore – something tasteful, but still a bit too dressy for everyday use. Hermione would walk slowly around the mansion, her head upright as Callidora had taught her, but her eyes filled with immeasurable sadness. It was a beautiful image, but a depressing one.
Draco's life had become depressing in general during the course of the past couple years, though his childhood had been mostly filled with contentedness and general prosperity. He had never been a happy child, but he had certainly been smug. This childishness lasted him for a very long time, until he realized that all he really was, was just another wizard, despite having significantly more money than most.
Hermione finally entered the parlor, fifteen minutes later than the time he'd specified in his note. He gazed balefully at the young woman before him, realizing her rosy cheeks and frazzled hair.
"Sorry," she apologized, flustered, "I got lost…"
He had been right; He fought the urge to smirk.
Instead, he waved away the apology, "You are what my mother would call, fashionably late."
Her blush deepened. He noticed she was still refusing to make eye contact with him and inwardly he frowned: It would seem that Hermione had her own secrets…
"So, what did you want?" she queried bluntly, "You were so mysterious in your note…"
Her hair curled slightly under her ears, Draco noticed with the tiniest of pleasures.
The seriousness of his issue brought him back to the dilemma at hand. He reached into the pocket of his robes and brought out a piece of parchment.
"I stole this from my father's private study – I think you should read it."
Hermione peered anxiously at the document as she took it from Draco's hands. For an instant, their fingers touched and prompted a quick shock of electricity. Both hands recoiled.
The document was written in flourishes that severely reminded Hermione of the calligraphic script people of the seventeenth century used to adopt. It was a romantic handwriting in that sense, though the ideal ceased to exist in Hermione's mind as soon as she discovered the beautiful handwriting belonged to her future father-in-law.
A kind of fear gripped her heart: Draco was sharing something very important with her - otherwise, why would he have insisted they meet in private? And as far as she and Draco were concerned, important news usually tended to be BAD news.
She looked up and her eyes met his for the first time since their truce.
.
.
Author's Note: Thanks bundles to Readerforlife, GoodCharlotte615, aquaimp, sureynot, RIPJameSiriusLupinTrueMarauder, brooklynsam3 and Michelle Amethyst for the reviews! Also thanks to WinnieThaPoo92 for the message!
Oh, and let's throw a party for GoodCharlotte615, who was my 100th review! Yay!!
So it seems like most of you wanted a happy ending, which is always fun. However, there were a few of you who elected for a possible alternate ending. So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to finish this one up happily ever after and then once I'm done, I'll consider writing an alternate.
P.S. If anyone is interested in seeing Hermione's wedding dress that I described briefly in the previous chapter, here is a link: img./photo/11276825/Designer100PureNaturalSilkWeddingCorsetGown.jpg (You need to type in the http : / / before it, because for some reason it isn't showing up here).