Author's Note: Here we go people, next chapter! I'm trying to update faster, so hopefully this is much before the end of October. By the way, I changed the e-mail format because I like it this way better. Oh, and I realize that some of the stuff in here is from this year, as opposed to in the time the books are set in, but bear with me please.
I'd also like to say thanks! The last chapter got quite a bit of a response!
Disclaimer: Don't own it. (This includes the song Stronger, the books Twilight, New Moon or Eclipse, or any other recognizable material).
Hermione was in a bad mood. It was obvious to both Draco and Blaise, even more so because she didn't try to hide it. She sat in the back, arms and legs crossed, tapping her foot to her own timer. As their GPS told Blaise to turn right she let out an exasperated 'hmfph!'
"Granger, do us all a favor and shut up." Draco snapped, as thoroughly irritated by the groups as the other two. Had he been wise he wouldn't have said anything, unfortunately this handsome blonde was more preoccupied with making himself feel better. The only way he saw fit to do that was annoy Hermione. But she was already annoyed, so he could only annoy the already annoyed Hermione.
"Piss off, Malfoy!" She hissed, seizing the only way to release her anger. "I don't care how you feel about these arrangements, as far as I'm concerned you are just another prop in this ridiculous show that is supposed to make me into a hysterical lunatic."
"By the looks of it you already are one." He snarled, twisting in his seat to look at her.
"You'd be the expert on raving lunatics, wouldn't you Malfoy? It sure is a good thing your father is locked up to keep himself safe. Oh, I forgot, he's in Azkaban and it's to keep others safe from him." She smirked, "or is it all the same to the Dementors?"
"Shut up, mudblood." He spat, reaching for his wand. Suddenly Blaise jerked the car and they all slipped, since none of them had their seatbelts on. Muggle safety wasn't their first priority. Plus, the car had spells on it in the case of an accident.
"Sorry." He muttered, focusing on the road again.
"Right," Hermione growled, "like you didn't do that on purpose to interrupt our argument. I was just about to hex him into next week, must you insist on being his lover and his protector, Zabini?"
Blaise's jaw actually dropped and Draco was seething as she sat there, completely satisfied. For some reason, Blaise had assumed Hermione would leave him alone since she insisted on calling him by his first name. Not anymore, he guessed. She rolled her eyes in the mirror and glared at them, burning holes through the reflective surface.
"Turn on the radio." She ordered, leaning forward.
"No." Blaise said stiffly, under no insistence would he follow her orders.
"Turn it on," she repeated, raising a challenging eyebrow. "If you turn it on now, I'll keep it at a reasonable volume."
"I said no." Blaise said, clenching the steering wheel tighter.
"Just turn on the goddamn radio!" She yelled, reaching out to press the button.
"Stop!" Draco grabbed her wrist, "what the hell is your problem? Do you think we like having you here any more then you like being here? Get a grip, Granger."
"Aren't you going to melt or something?" She asked coolly, ignoring what he'd said. "You do realize you're touching my bare skin? Or maybe you're using this as an excuse to touch me. What's with that, ferret?"
"I was making a point," he snapped, shoving her hand away. She settled back against the seats, arms and legs crossed, once again tapping her own rhythm on the floor. Five minutes of this mixed with her insults and threats had Draco at boiling point. He probably should have been worried when she stopped, but he wasn't.
"Thank god, I was beginning to wonder if you would ever just shut the fu-" His next words were drowned out by 'work it, make it, do it, makes us harder, better, faster, stronger' blasting. He jumped about a foot in the air, which was quite a feat considering he'd been sitting down. "Turn it down!" He roared and couldn't even hear himself.
Hermione was grinning, bobbing her head and singing along to the music. Her plan to irritate the two boys was working. This was going to be one fun car ride.
Three hours later Draco was suffering from a severe headache and he was very annoyed. So annoyed, in fact, he was considering giving up and letting the other team win. For one thing, he was now hungry. He hadn't spoken in over three hours. Hermione was having the time of her life back there, singing and listening to music and slowly inching the volume even louder then before. He could see her in the mirror. He also noticed how frequently she would look at him and then grin evilly.
Finally, in between the changing of songs, he said, "I'm hungry."
Hermione took this as an opportunity to vent out her still sizzling temper, so she turned the dial down. "Anything else?" Her voice was polite in a fake sort of way.
"Yeah, I think we should stop somewhere." He said roughly, rolling his eyes at Blaise. They were probably in for another argument.
"Yeah, me too." She said, a grin lighting her face. This could have been taken as an ominous sign, but Draco really was hungry and he was not in the mood to think about her mood swings. They pulled into a restaurant alongside the road and climbed out.
Hermione was not in a charitable mood. So she decided that Blaise and Draco could figure out how to order themselves. And there was no way in hell she was going to show them how to use muggle currency. She watched them from the corner of her eye, standing by the door, staring as she walked up to the counter and ordered her food. They plopped it down on the counter in front of her and she paid. To her surprise she turned around and nearly ran into Draco.
"Ah, so you've ordered, love?" He asked, his voice was falsely loving and it gave her the creeps. Then, to her horror, he embraced her in a way that kept her steamy food safe in its paper bag but was still close enough to be intimate. "I'll just take the same." He nodded to the guy behind the counter who was staring at them, "it's been a long drive. Actually make it two," he jerked his head in Blaise's direction. He was lounging against the panes of glass on the windows. Then he pulled Hermione around so his arm was around her waist. "You know how he gets."
"Right." She said through gritted teeth. Her two companions had already attracted the entire female population in the building, there was no need to make a scene, however much it would satiate her desire to slug him.
"Thanks," he threw down a few twenty dollar bills, "just keep the change, man. And do people a favor, get a haircut."
Before the other man could reply he'd swept up the food and was walking away with her. As they neared the door she shook him off and stalked the rest of the way to the car. How dare he? How dare they? This was, obviously, their fault. If she hadn't been put with him that whole situation would never have happened.
"What's wrong Granger? You look a bit upset." Draco called after her, and she was thoroughly annoyed to note that she could almost hear his smirk.
"Do I?" She spat, pulling open the side door. "Because I can't possibly imagine why I would be upset. It's not like I'm stuck with the two biggest pricks in the human world for fourteen days."
"Aw thanks, you really are too kind, Granger." Blaise said, smirking.
She looked over and him and found herself hating ever inch of him. "Fuck off, Zabini." It was the second time she'd sworn badly in the day and it annoyed her that she was losing her ability to form witty retorts.
His smirk slid off his face as she climbed through and slammed the door closed. Draco sniggered and rolled his eyes at the other male. "Granger is seriously losing it."
"I know." Blaise said, his voice edgy.
"Remind me to thank Sheila and James when we get back." Draco smirked and climbed into the passenger's side of the car. Blaise frowned and climbed into the driver's seat.
It didn't take long for the car to start smelling like fast food. Draco, who had eaten his rather grudgingly, opened the windows with a mutter of, 'disgusting'. Blaise hadn't touched his own, and Hermione ate hers slowly. By fast food standards, it was the worst. In fact, Hermione was quite sure that the food was only just edible. Her Pepsi was good, and so she drank it quickly. The caffeine slowly began to make her hyper, until she was unable to keep still and started drumming her fingers on the window.
Trees were flashing by very quickly and she glanced up to the front. "How fast are we going?"
"A hundred and thirty." Blaise answered. How was the car going that fast?
"A bit fast?" She rolled her eyes, but he made no inclination to slow down. "This is boring." There was no answer. "What time is it?"
"6:30." Draco said, his tone was annoyed.
"Huh." She said, "So how long are you going to be driving for?"
"I don't know." Blaise answered. There was a screech of tires on pavement as he spun them in a quick 'U' turn and took a left. "I like driving."
"Doesn't it bother you that muggles invented driving?"
"How do you know?" Draco asked, "for all you know it was a wizard that pretended to be a muggle."
This stumped her. But it couldn't be true, could it? "Whatever, Malfoy."
"Granger I think you've lost your brains, because your ability to come up with retorts is gone. Not that you had much in the first place." Draco said and smirked, "is your brain still in a fuzz since you realized you'd be able to look at me for fourteen days?"
"Yes, it is. I'm sure a lot of people have gone through the same thing when they realize they can't avoid your ugliness." She snapped, pulling out her laptop. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk to me."
"If hearing your voice didn't make my ears burn, I would, just to annoy you." He snarled and leaned back against his seat.
She flipped up the top and pulled up her e-mail link. Andrea had sent her another message. She clicked the subject and was immediately redirected to the e-mail.
To: I can't believe you're dating my brother!
From: Hopefully the only girl's brother you're dating.
Time: 6:21 PM
Subject: Where are you?
Hey!
I cannot believe you insist on using correct grammar and all that stuff in e-mails. God. Nerd much?
So anyway, Jacob got back and he was all happy and junk, but I didn't ask for details because how weird would that be? So then, of course, we had dinner and he started getting all sulky and unhappy so, like the compassionate sister I am, I said that you probably didn't care that the date sucked, because you like how stupid he is. He glared at me and said you were going somewhere for two weeks and then he stomped off. You would've thought a bit of college would make him a bit less immature.
So I'm here to ask you where the hell you are!? I'd rather not venture into his room, who knows what I'll find in there. –shudders- Eww. So how did the date go? He wouldn't even tell me where you were going.
Talk to me! Your cell number won't go through.
Love, Annie. 3
She smiled to herself. Jacob was sulking because she was gone? It wasn't like she wanted him to be unhappy at her expense, but still… She hummed happily to herself as she pulled up a new message.
To: Of course I'm only with your brother.
From: Hermione
Time: 6:43 PM
Subject: It was amazing. And I don't even know where I am.
Hi,
I am not a nerd.
Actually I'm going on a road trip with Malfoy and Zabini, two of the guys I live with. It wasn't really my choice, but I guess talking to you can keep me sane.
You know, you really are not as compassionate as you seem to think. XD And the date did not suck! It was, as I said before, amazing. And Jacob is not stupid. And no, I'm not just saying that because I'm going out with him. But I dunno, are we dating, technically? What do I call him? My boyfriend? We only went out once. What if I'm just assuming too much? I'm a lot better with this stuff when it's not me.
We walked through the forest to this really romantic clearing and we sat there and talked and after he kissed me and I was euphoric. You might not think it was that great, but I did. I do. Oh god, I really like him.
My cell phone number won't go through? Maybe we're too far away.
Talk to you later,
Hermione
She clicked send and sat there, smiling.
"Granger if you keep grinning like an idiot you're going to break the mirrors." Blaise snapped as he glanced up.
"Shut up." She growled, her smile sliding off her face. I should look them up. With a sly smile at the two in the front she went to google and brought up the website for the show. From there she found a page on Draco and began to read out loud.
'"Draco Malfoy is the son of Lucius Malfoy, one of the key components in the incident involving the acceptance of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return one year ago. His mother, Narcissa Malfoy, was not reached for comment after that event but is always ready with her wand if the subject is broached. He is an attractive just-turned seventeen year old. It is rumored that no matter who you are or what you look like, if he looks at your for longer than three seconds your are immediately liked more by your peers. Not only is he devastatingly handsome, he is also stunningly intelligent, rivaled only by the House's own Hermione Granger (follow this link for more on her).
'"The aura of mystery follows this young man around, as do the eyes of every female who has ever set eyes on him. "'The first time I saw him I think I almost fainted.'" Admits Hannah Abbott, a pretty Hufflepuff in Draco's year. '"It's a shame he turned out to be such a prejudiced ass."' When asked why she is insulted by this when she herself is a pureblood, she glared at the reporter with stunning blue eyes. '"Hermione Granger is one of my friends and he is awful to her. Not only that, but anyone who discriminates by bloodline is not someone I want to be with."' This statement shows why Hannah was sorted into Hufflepuff, the house known for its loyalty in Hogwarts."' Hermione had begun to trail off halfway through the paragraph, this wasn't what she was expecting and she continued reading slowly.
'"Draco's own housemates show incredible loyalty to him. He is considered somewhat of a leader to them in his house, out ruling even older students. On a regular day in school he is seen strutting around the grounds, showing off not only his dominance, but his collection of faithful followers, who are never far behind.'" She stopped abruptly, this was not what she was looking for. Ignoring the rest of the extensive page she looked away.
"What the hell was that?" Draco asked suddenly, he'd been silent the entire time.
"It was…" She paused, "your character description on the website for the show."
"And why were you reading it?" He asked, his voice controlled. It took her awhile to process that underlying his calm façade, he was very angry.
"Because I wanted to bug you." She snapped, "it's a free country, I can do what I want."
"Well it's a load a bullshit." He snarled, swiveling around to look at her with his raging grey eyes. "I hope you're happy, because it did bother me."
"I am." She hissed, but she wasn't really happy. It sort of disgusted her at what was written. All about how he had a band of followers and people thought of him as a leader, while also saying he was a pureblood freak but he was handsome.
"Is there one on me?" Blaise asked suddenly, not taking his eyes off the road.
"Yes." She answered honestly.
"Can you read it?"
"Oh, okay."
She cleared her throat a bit nervously as she clicked on the link to Blaise's page. "Erm…okay. Here it is. 'Blaise Zabini is the son of the famously beautiful Elizabeth Zabini, married to Charles Zabini. Being the best friend of Draco Malfoy (Follow this link for more on him) one would think he would have to draw attention to himself. However, Hogwarts students have said that no one can't not notice him, even when he is silent. He also has his fair share of girls that flock after him, none of which he shows any interest in. We wonder why this is, however when asked by anyone he either does not answer and gives you a cold look with his amazing eyes, or will tell you to mind your own business. If you ask a Slytherin about this, they will simply ignore you or reply with something rude. We have, however, figured out the reason. Blaise Zabini is in love with-"
"Stop." Blaise said suddenly, his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel.
"What?" She scanned the rest of the sentence. "There's nothing here that's bad."
"Right," he said, taking cleansing breaths. "Just-just skip that part."
'"Okay," she said, unsure of what caused such a strong reaction. A quick glance at Draco showed him looking at Blaise with soothing eyes. "So…oh right. 'When asked his opinion of Blaise, Ravenclaw Terry Boot laughed. 'I don't know, I don't really know him. He can shoot the evilest glare ever. The girls in my House always say stupid stuff about melting when they look at him. From what I know, I don't like him.'
'"Blaise is considered somewhat of the second command after Draco. He has known disagreements with Pansy Parkinson (click here for more on her) and it is said that unlike his other housemates, he doesn't seek arguments. However, he will snap a quick retort if someone from Slytherin is under attack from someone else. With his loyalty and his sharp mind he makes a formidable opponent.' Should I go on?" She looked up.
"No." Blaise said stiffly. "Read yours."
"What? No." She exclaimed.
"You read ours out loud, why won't you read yours? Are you scared?" Draco sneered, sitting tensely in his seat.
"I'm not scared." She snapped, "But I'm not going to read it just because you want me to."
"Fine." Draco snapped. She heard shuffling and he pulled out his black laptop.
"What are you doing?" She asked as he turned it on.
"What does it look like?" He growled, "I'm going to read yours for you."
"How do you know how to use it?" She asked triumphantly, certain that he was going to realize he had no clue what he was doing.
"Pansy." He said simply. She felt her jaw drop. So all along while she'd been teaching Pansy how to use the stuff, Pansy had been teaching Draco? "Ah, here it is."
"Don't." She said in a firm voice.
"Well, just because you asked," he said sarcastically and cleared his throat. '"Hermione Granger is the daughter of Jane and Chris Granger. She is the friend of Harry Potter (Click here for more on him) and Ron Weasley (Click here for more on him) who she is rumored to have something romantic going on with. She is known for her bushy brown hair and her extreme intelligence. Throughout her years at Hogwarts she has taken part in the mysterious adventures with Harry (click here for more on him) and Ron (click here for more on him).
'"In her fourth year she had a love triangle with Harry Potter (Click here for more on him) and Viktor Krum (click here to go straight to his fansite). When asked about Hermione, Ravenclaw Anthony Goldstein said, "oh, brilliant. Really brilliant, yeah. Great friend. A bit feisty, but hey," the strapping young man laughed, "guys like that." When asked by the reporter if he would ever pursue a romantic relationship with her he shook his head. "I fancy my face the way it is, thanks."
'"She is the top of her class in every lesson except potions, where Draco (click here for more on him) beats her to the punch. Her teachers have nothing but good things to say about her, and we can already tell a bright future awaits this girl…"' Draco continued reading, his voice becoming more and more disgusted until finally he stopped. "That was painful."
"No one asked you to read it." She snapped, her face red.
"So? You asked me not to, so why else would I?" Draco retorted, smirking as she glared at him.
"Why do you insist on doing this to me?" She huffed, "I hate you, you hate me, or at least my blood, so can we just get past that and try to make this team functional?"
"I don't want to function with you."
"Tell me something," she said furiously, her voice rising. "What is so wrong with my blood? So what, I'm not pureblood, but if you hadn't known that would you still hate?"
He snorted, "whatever answer you're looking for, I'm not going to give you. I don't even know how I'd feel about you, because I already have a firm template in my mind."
"You just admitted that you might feel differently, though." She said, a broad grin of success crossing her face. "It's a start."
Highly disconcerted, Draco said, "so how do you turn on the radio?"
It took them ten whole minutes to find a station they wanted to listen to and a volume all three were comfortable with. They sat in silence as Hermione stared out the window, Blaise drove and Draco focused on staring at the road.
I hate him. What is his problem? Pansy was so much easier to get along with! And what is up with Zabini, he wasn't being too bad and all of a sudden he's acting just like Malfoy. Slytherins are so confusing, they all have severe emotional issues.
Happy with this conclusion she pulled out one of the many books she'd packed and set about reading it. At the hour mark she looked up and let out a shrill scream. "Pull over!"
Blaise hit the break and turned swiftly. The car spun into the parking lot and they came to a stop, horizontally in front of a store with a big sign on it, advertising a book.
"What the hell?" Draco spluttered, his face white as Hermione tore through her bag. "What was that about?"
"I'll be right back!" She screeched, dashing out of the car and into the store. Two minutes later she was back in the car, a gleeful smile on her face. "Oh my god!" When she realized they were watching her, her voice dropped about and octave and a half. "What?"
"Care to explain what that was about?" Blaise asked, watching her from the mirror.
"Look," she held up the book. The front cover was glossy and black, with a red ribbon floating across the middle, a tear across the upper part of it. "Eclipse." She breathed, her eyes glassy.
"What exactly is that supposed to symbolize?" Draco asked boredly as she read the back cover, enchanted.
"It's the third book in a series I've been reading. I had no idea it was out already, I mean, I loved the first two but I've been so out of muggle culture." She said, eyes still shining. "It's the most amazing series ever."
"That's all?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes." She said darkly, "that's all. You can drive now."
"Thank you so much for your approval, it means a lot." Blaise said sarcastically and they began to drive again, once again hitting the speed of one hundred and thirty.
"Turn off the radio." She ordered as she opened the book, each finger caressing the pages. Draco was more then happy to comply and he pressed the circular button. "Thanks." She said unconsciously as she settled against the seat, eyes a blur as she read.
'Doesn't change anything. Sorry.'
Hermione let out a squeak of excitement. Her heart was already beating faster. She loved these books! The thrill of fresh material ran through her and she shivered. Reading, one of the joys of life. As her mind tuned out the rest of the world she read on, delighting in the book's ability to captivate her mind.
"Uh, Granger?" Draco said suddenly, his voice laced with worry, awhile later "what's that noise?"
She looked up, irritated, and listened. "Sirens." Right behind us. "How fast are we going?" She asked, her voice forced calm.
"A hundred thirty-five." Blaise said slowly.
"Pull over the damn car you idiot! We're speeding!" She snapped, marking her page and setting the book aside.
With a scowl Blaise pulled off to the shoulder of the road. "I should take this, you'll mess it up." Rather then argue with her, Blaise and Hermione switched places. She looked out the rearview mirror and saw the police man get out of his car, pulling out a notebook.
A mad urge seized her as she insulted Blaise with every word she could think of. This was his fault, after all. She did not want to deal with this, she was in a very bad mood. And then, without thinking, she floored the gas pedal.
Blaise swore loudly as he went flying into the seat and Draco hit his head off the window. She pulled onto the road and set off flying down the street, leaving the shouts of the officer behind her. A grin spread across her face as they kept going, they had just evaded the police!
And that was when she heard the sirens again. They were being chased.
"Uh oh." She said as the noise got closer. She urged the car faster and Draco, rubbing his head, said, "what are you doing?"
"Honestly?" She laughed, "we're in a police chase!"
Blaise sat up, looking incredulous as Hermione wove through the cars, almost double the road's speed limit. "Why don't we just stop the car and let them do whatever they want? You're going to get us killed!" Blaise's voice slurred as they turned abruptly at the GPS's instruction.
"If we stop now we might get put in jail!" She said, the realization of what she'd just involved them in hitting her hard.
Cars were pulling out of the way as they heard the sirens, making it so much easier to get around them. And then, quit unexpectedly, 'turn right at the 4 20 exit.'
"We just passed the 4 20 exit, didn't we?" Hermione said calmly and jerked the steering wheel to the side, spinning the car around and setting them in the opposite direction. Car wheels screeched on the pavement as drivers stopped, only just avoiding collisions. "Oh my god." Hermione said as they found themselves speeding right at the police car.
Now, unlike the Hermione we are used to, who would never have even considered speeding in the first place, she didn't stop. She didn't even back down. Her face held an expression of utmost determination and gripped the steering wheel. They were drawing ever closer and Draco's eyes were widening with fear.
"Granger, slow down." He said, his voice higher then usual. "Stop!"
"No." she said as a sign reading 4 20 came closer with the police cruiser.
"Grangeeerrr!" He shouted as she turned into the exit just before they would have collided with the car.
She let out a whoop as they sped down the quiet road, the sirens faded into the distance. She glanced at Draco and grinned manically, "scared?"
"Never do that again," he whispered, his eyes wide.
"Why?" She smirked, "is poor little Malfoy afraid?"
"Just don't." He said, voice shaking slightly.
"Oh grow up Malfoy, we're fine."
He didn't answer, his face was white tinged green. Blaise looked terrified and was sitting in the back, gripping the seat. "Pull over." Draco croaked and she did, hoping he wasn't going to be sick.
Draco stumbled out of the car and leaned on a tree as he threw up. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and all her anger was gone. Who would have thought? When Draco climbed back into the car he fumbled with a package of gum and chewed the pieces quickly, spitting them out after a minute.
"Okay Blaise, your turn." Hermione climbed out the door and into the back. Blaise took her spot and they set off driving slowly in silence. "Well that was fun." Smiling to herself she opened up her book and began to read again. The two boys exchanged mystified looks.
She was never driving them anywhere again.
Author's note: I know, this chapter is shorter then usual. XD. Sorry. It just wasn't flowing.
OK, I need a favor. One of you readers read my story and added me/the story to a favorite/alert or reviewed or something, and I clicked on your profile (I do that sometimes to check out your stuff, even if you haven't written anything) and in your favorite stories there was one of those cliché stories that mocks others. Well I read it and found it terribly funny, and I didn't save a link to it or anything so I lost it. I looked through all the alerts I got and I couldn't find your name. So if you know of a story like this, tell me. One of the things in it was Draco changing his last name to 'Bear' because he didn't want to be a Malfoy anymore… I found it very funny. XD. I laughed hysterically for awhile. So if this is you, please please please tell me!
Anyway, if you have any suggestions or anything you want to see in the road trip tell me! I do actually use ideas if I can fit them in. So anything at all, a particular sentence, fight subject, tell me!
P.S. We're almost at a hundred! OH MY GOD! If you review this chapter I'll shout out to you in the next one! Thanks so much, your opinions mean a lot to me and this story!
So…
Review review review!