Author's Note: Everything Joe teaches them is real. I remembered as much as I could from the class I took at school as I could, so its real. It also works. I've done it. XD. And the fall partner exercise, did that too. It BURNS!
OH MY GOD! I'm going to Simple Plan's concert in Toronto on Augest 29th as a birthday gift from my mom! (My birthday's the 19th) I am UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED!
Special thanks to my wonderful beta Max Ride Fan 13!!
To Inner Self: It took a long time, but I finally got Draco and Blaise to volunteer her! I hope things were up to your standards, though its not quite the same freaky Kill Billish woman (or woman at all). I have yet to see that movie…But I will!
Disclaimer: No offense, but if you haven't realized that I'm not J.K Rowling by now, you're obviously a few fries short of your happy meal. I also do not own McDonalds. Just in case, you know, McDonald is reading this and wants to sue me…-coughs-
"It's too early." Hermione said, pacing in front of Draco and Blaise. Draco and Hermione had decided to seriously consider their 'relationship' and then had retreated up to the suites, where Draco, white faced and shaking, had collapsed on a sofa and Blaise had sat, cross legged beside him. "There's no way she could know the day after. It's – it's impossible."
She looked at the two members of her team as they stared back at her.
"Fuck." Draco said loudly. "Fuck. Fuck this! How could this happen!"
"I wonder," she said sarcastically, somehow her fury over his irresponsible actions outweighed her pity for him and worry over the entire situation. "Could it have possibly been that – Oh gosh, I dunno, maybe something you two did yesterday? Like, sex?"
He glared at her, "That was rhetorical, Granger. Do you have any sensitivity?"
"Yes, but not when you make a stupid, imbecilic decision and realize that all things have consequences, not just for you." She said smartly and ignored Blaise's look that clearly said Shut UP!
"Don't. Just don't." He bit out and began to pace quickly back and forth. "What am I going to do? I can't just hang around her for the rest of her life! She's muggle!"
"Wait," Hermione cut in, "you actually plan to be involved in this?"
"The damage is done." Draco snapped, "it doesn't matter if I hand her a big fat check to handle the cost I would pay by being her h-husband, because if she demands I not leave her, what do I say? Sorry, but no?"
"Wouldn't it be easier for you to just…leave?" She could barely believe that she was speaking the words, but in her head she'd been thinking about how he couldn't possibly stay with her, and how furious she would be when he abandoned Helga, because no woman deserves that.
"No child of mine will ever be left with nothing." He snarled and ran a hand through his silky hair. "I just – I should have – Why?"
"Hermione could be right." Blaise said, trying to calm his friend. "It's too early to tell. It's not like with some species in the magic world where they can tell right away."
"But what if she is." Draco asked, wringing his hands nervously.
"Here's what we'll do." Hermione said reasonably. "Set up a doctor's appointment in a week from now and then another a week after. We'll get her checked both times for a pregnancy at two different practices. Also, give her an e-mail address, or phone number or such to contact you at, just in case. If she is…pregnant, you should find out what she wants to do. There are three options. Abortion, adoption or keeping it."
Draco nodded, absorbing the information as though he as given a second chance at life. Blaise looked torn between an attempt at calm and worry, and Hermione had a cold feeling in her stomach that had been knotting and unknotting ever since Helga had made the announcement. She was still frozen in a state of shock, though somehow, by a miracle, her brain was functioning.
"If she isn't, then call her to say what you want and we can leave. Oh, and delete your account under the address you give her after this ordeal or she'll plague you." She added thoughtfully and felt the feeling come into her fingers. Of course it's too early, there really is no way she could be pregnant with his child. Well, I suppose she could…But she couldn't know.
"How many precautions did you use?" She asked him next, because who knew? It could be useful to know.
"Er…one?"
"Always use two." She said informatively. "Then there's a very vast success rate. Of course, the only sure way to avoid a pregnancy is abstinence."
Draco snorted. "You're the only one who follows that method."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but seized the subject in hope of distracting Draco. "I'm not vowing to abstain, exactly. Just to wait for the right person."
"How do you know they're the right person? How do you know I didn't think my first was the right person?" He asked argumentatively.
"It's different for most men. Uncountable surveys have said that, not sexism. Most of them don't understand the emotions woman do about sex, obviously, because our brains function differently. And it's easy for them to walk away and forget that part of their life, if a girl gets pregnant, no matter what she does it still happened. You can't just forget you had a baby growing inside you, no matter what you do with it. Adoption, abortion…" She tried to stay un-opinionated, but couldn't.
"You think abortion is wrong." Draco stated calmly.
"No," she corrected, "I think its wrong as a birth control method. I believe in woman's choice. Do you think it's fair for a 14 year old rape victim to be told she has to have her father's baby by some man in the government who has no idea her situation?"
"She's still killing a baby." Blaise cut in. "The child had nothing to do with her father's choice, it was only the consequence."
"The chances of it having no mutations or brain dysfunctions is slim. Does it deserve that? And the thought of it knowing its father is its grandfather too! What kind of life would they live?" She demanded, her eyes narrowing at him.
"You don't want them to live at all!" Blaise argued back, "Every child is a blessing!"
"And of what of the girl or woman or child, even, who has to endure this?" She demanded, "What of them and how they feel?"
"Like their guilt for killing an innocent child?" He shot back, his voice raising slightly in anger. "Maybe the baby would give them some source of happiness!"
"Really? You think so? And what of the baby's life? The chances of dysfunctions and mutations and the life they would have to endu-"
"Compared to the life you'd want them to have? Oh yeah, that's no life at all. You'd rather kill them." He gestured to Draco, who was watching them solemnly. "What if Helga decided her choice was to get an abortion?"
"Did you rape Helga?" She asked Draco viciously, half flinching. "It sure didn't sound like it when I walked in on you."
"No." He glared at her, his jaw clenched.
"Well, then, there, I agree. I think it is wrong." She said and Blaise laughed bitterly.
"Or is that only because it would be Draco's child and then maybe you'd actually have a chance with someone associated with his name! Maybe if you try hard enough you might even fool yourself into thinking it's him!" His voice was near shout, now. "You'd only have to wait another twenty or so years!"
She gaped at him, stung and astonished. "You are even more stupid then I realized. This isn't even involving him! This is about abortion!"
"Really, because your mind is already made up about that!" Blaise screamed at her, "You Gryffindors boast about loyalty and fairness and shit like that, and you're not even loyal to your own damn species!"
"You'll never understand what it would be like," she shouted back, unaware of the rise in their voices. "You'll never know what it will be like, because you are a male! You'd never be able to have children on your own, or imagine what it would be like to have something so huge in your mind all the time!"
She didn't know exactly what it would feel like herself. She could only imagine what it would be like in a bad circumstance; how horrifying it would be to have all your ideals and hopes for your life suddenly seem just out of reach; to know that you held another life inside you and that you didn't want it.
"Why, thank you for pointing out the wonderful truth, Granger, that I will never be able to have a child with the person I love because we will both be men." He said in a cold, icy voice. His eyes glittered dangerously and his expression was enough to make the blood in her veins freeze.
She stared at him and it began to dawn on her why this would be important to him; the reason he was so vehement that all children should be important. Even if he found the person he loved the most in the world, they could never have a baby with both their genes, and maybe either one. He would never be able to look into the eyes of his child and say, 'she has your face and my eyes.'
She felt a bit dizzy with this realization and grabbed onto her bed post. "But…well, someone will help you, they could be the surrogate. Or you can adopt."
"It's not the same." He said, his face and expressionless mask. "Is it? Children are miracles, and abusing one just because you didn't anticipate it is disgusting and cruel."
She couldn't help shaking her head. "I can't agree with you. I understand what you're saying," she added when he opened his mouth angrily, "but I can't agree. Just like you can't agree with me."
Blaise turned to Draco, who had yet to say anything. "What do you think?"
"I agree with Blaise." He said quietly, staring out the window as though he hadn't heard half of what they'd said.
She felt slightly disappointed. "Oh."
"I understand you, Granger, but it's close to Pureblood culture as well. Every possible heir is important, every child is part of your family and family ties are the strongest in the world. I have to agree with Blaise. Children shouldn't be taken advantage of because they don't have a choice."
She nodded, silent and it resonated in their room for a few minutes.
"Why are you so annoyed with Potter and Weasley?" Draco asked suddenly, as though trying to catch her unaware.
She shrugged, "They asked me to sabotage our group's chances of winning because it would mean Ginny could come on the show. But it was mostly Ron's idea."
Draco snorted, "So what are you going to do to stop us?"
"Nothing," she snorted. "I doubt Ginny would want to come onto this show because I ruined our chances. And I've decided I want us to win."
"Took you awhile." Draco laughed humorlessly. "So you won't try to stop us winning? Because we're not voting on the she-Weasel."
"We're still a team. And we're going to win." Draco and Blaise (his face relaxing from stony to rock like) both stared at her. They had seriously misjudged her and while she was still annoying and stupid, (well not really stupid but it was reassuring to say it) she was a good teammate. And for some reason, she was fair to them even though they were Slytherins. Another Gryffindor trait, no doubt. Draco thought bitterly.
But as Blaise turned away, Draco continued on staring as her eyes shone with determination and there was a slight flush to her cheeks. It was only when she looked at him and asked, "What?" That he realized he was staring.
"Hm? Oh I was just thinking." He fumbled quickly. "It's late. I want to sleep and try not to think about this…this thing."
Instantly the Blaise gave Draco a reassuring smile and she sobered up completely. Hermione snatched up a small bag beside her bed and her pajamas, before hurrying into the bathroom. She rushed through washing her face and brushed her teeth quicker then usual. She pulled on a pale cream nightgown and braided her hair. Her mind was much too preoccupied to have a shower now, and the others had to use the bathroom as well.
Once she was out Draco went in and brushed his teeth. Blaise was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. She didn't say anything, just turned off the light beside her bed and climbed into it. The only sound was of water running and a brushing noise. She could only see a faint outline of Blaise because the light was on the other side of his bed.
Draco came out and threw his clothes off wildly, before climbing on his bed and pulling the curtains around it.
The only sound penetrating the room was breathing. Draco's was muffled behind the curtains, Blaise's was soft and slow and Hermione's was more alert and awake.
She couldn't sleep.
She turned over so her left side was resting on the pillow. Something was nagging at her consciousness and not allowing her to sleep. And she knew what. Helga. It was too soon, there was no way to know! She knew it was a fact, but there was still part of her that felt like it was true… the simple fact was, any female could get pregnant after having sex. Helga could be pregnant, but she couldn't know. It was that simple. But somehow…it just felt like it must be true.
She turned over again and buried her face in her pillow.
If she was… She wasn't quite sure how she would take that news. After nearly fainting and grabbing the table while Helga glowed, she'd turned to stare at Draco. He'd gone so pale – paler than she'd seen anyone in her life – and the fact that he thought it a possibility scared her even more.
With an exasperated sigh she rolled onto her back.
She didn't know why it scared her. She would've thought she'd be happy at Draco's humiliation. But the look on his face, terror and disbelief rolled into one horrified expression stayed with her.
With a sigh she stood up and got her bag for a shower. On the way over she stopped at Blaise's bed and turned off the light. "Honestly." Feeling a bit like a mother she pulled off his shoes and then went into the bathroom.
It was a long night.
-
-
The next morning she awoke to frantic shouting. She groaned and sat up wearily. Draco was darting around like mad between the dresser he'd placed his clothing in and his bed, throwing his clothes everywhere. Blaise was yelling at him to stop being an idiot, his hands in the process of speedily folding a shirt. They both had suitcases open on their beds.
"Granger!" Draco bellowed, his eyes wide with panic. "It's 5:30! We're supposed to leave in half an hour!"
"What?!" She nearly shrieked and threw the covers off her bed. "Why didn't they tell us?"
"They wanted to surprise us." Blaise said dryly. "Draco, calm down!"
She stood up and grabbed a change of clothes. After closing the door to the bathroom, which somewhat muffled the noise of the other two, she began to hurriedly get dressed. After throwing on a pair of track pants – it probably wasn't too hot outside- and a t-shirt she brushed her teeth, washed her face and ran from the room.
Somewhat frantically she pulled her bag up from under her bed, feeling smug as she decided to use magic to fold them all in neatly. Draco had managed to shove all his clothes into his and was zipping it up, while Blaise was pulling on his shoes and checking under the bed for anything he'd dropped.
Hermione was about to use her wand when she realized they would lose points. She gasped loudly and pulled out her clothes from her drawers and tried to neatly toss them into her bag. Even then she was forced to pull some articles out and rearrange them until she was sure nothing else would fit. Unfortunately, she realized a second later, her running shoes were at the very bottom of her bag.
She looked at the clock on the wall. 5:50. There was no time to redo it! She checked under her bed and, to her relief, found a pair of high heels that must have fallen out of her bag. But, to her horror, after she'd spent 3 minutes strapping them on, she noticed that they were uncomfortably high. Oh good lord, I'll go without shoes!
She was going to yank them off when Draco rushed by with his suitcase. "Let's go!"
Blaise was hurrying along behind him and, when she bent down to try and undue one anyway, said, "Come on!"
She had no choice but to follow. She almost fell over on the way to the elevator and had to grab onto the wall.
5:58. By the time they got downstairs they were practically sprinting as Hermione wobbled on her shoes. She tried to walk on just the front and leave the heels alone altogether, but just as they came in view of the other team, tussled but early, her left heel got caught on her right (how did that happen?) and she went flying. She reached out and accidentally grabbed Draco's jacket, and he grabbed Blaise and they all went sprawling forward onto the floor.
She'd heard somewhere that you were supposed to turn when you fall and take the strain through your arms, but unfortunately she only ended up falling on top of Draco and elbowing the spine in his lower back rather aggressively.
"Ouc - FUCK!" He yelled loudly and the sentiment was echoed by Blaise, who had, unfortunately, taken the brunt of both their falls.
Her elbow was smarting quite a lot, as were her knees. She was lying with her left elbow on still on Draco's back and her left leg crossed over his, almost curling around his right knee. Draco had landed half over Blaise's suitcase and a quarter on top of him.
Hysterical laughter made her look up. The few people who were in the lobby were staring pointedly at them, while the workers at the desks looked disapproving. The five waiting for them were all laughing. Hermione huffed and managed to get up and stood up, hands on hips. "Oh shut up! It was a misplaced foot!"
"You idiot!" That was Draco as he stumbled onto his feet and steadied himself, before moving to help up Blaise. "Why are you wearing those shoes if you can't walk in them?"
"Because you two were screaming like lunatics for me to hurry up!" She retorted angrily.
"We didn't want to be late!" Draco said and flicked an imaginary piece of dust off his jeans. Hermione took notice of them and had to suppress a smile. They were completely muggle, and weren't too loose but still slim fitting, which of course looked very attractive. Any traces of a smile disappeared.
"I didn't realize that meant screaming like a g-"
"Guys." Blaise cut in, exasperated. The others were standing, staring at them. Well, Pansy was, Harry and Ron were glaring daggers at Draco.
She leaned away after realizing she'd leaned in and shook her hair out of her face. It was uncomfortably hot. I wish I had a hair elastic. She twisted her hair and pulled as much of it as she could onto one shoulder.
"Well, good morning to all of you!" James beamed, looking a bit strained. "A very early morning, I should say."
"Oh James would you quit it!" Sheila said crossly, "It's part of the challenge!"
"I don't see why the challenge couldn't wait a few hours longer!" He protested and folded his arms across his chest. Hermione took that as a sign that they would be awhile and began to scrabble at her shoes' buckles until she got them off, listening to their tense argument.
"You're acting like a spoilt child! Of course, how would I know anyway, since we don't have one-"
"We're only twenty seven years old-"
"Twenty eight!"
"-we have time!"
"You know we got up at 5:30 this morning for you, so would you shut up?" Ron snapped grouchily. "This is supposed to be a summer vacation!"
Sheila smiled in a way that looked like she'd just had botox done and straightened out her shirt. "Yes. Anyways, if you would all put your bags into your cars, we have a location put into your GPS about a mile from here. We suggest you put on comfortable clothes and running shoes."
James looked at them all in their disheveled jeans, the girls' high heels –though Pansy seemed perfectly at ease in her pair, Hermione noticed bitterly- and the collared button up Draco was wearing. "Clothes you might want to, shall we say, defend in."
'Defend in…' What would we need to defend? Magic? Honor? Ourselves? Hermione's musings were interrupted by Sheila.
"We encourage you to be there in at least twenty minutes, or certain penalties will be forced into play." Sheila's smile was completely fake and she took in a deep breathe. "Well, go on now!"
Hermione took off sprinting, her body at a stretched arms length from her suitcases and shoes as she dragged them over the parking lot cement. This is a long parking lot! She realized as she looked back halfway to her car and noticed the others following shortly behind her, though Draco and Blaise were at a more leisurely jog. "Come on!"
They sped up and with a huff of indignation she picked up her speed as well when they passed her. Finally, she arrived panting and gasping at their car. Draco – whose hair had a wonderful windswept look that made him look like a model – was breathing fine and engaging in a conversation with Blaise.
"I left a note at the desk to be delivered for Helga. With my phone number, and all that. I told her I would set up appointments and to call me, but there's been an emergency and I have to go."
She went around the side of the car with her bag and began to dig around in her bag for a hair elastic. The car was like a dry sauna. It encased her and she began to sweat profusely. She could almost feel her hair crackle and begin to rise until it was like a circular mane around her head. She waved her hand in front of her face in hope of cooling down.
The others got in the car and Blaise put the key in the ignition. She turned the radio on and then off almost immediately as, "we're on the road agaaain, oh on the road agaaaiiin again," filled the car.
"Merlin it's hot!" Blaise complained and rolled down all the windows. She nodded in agreement, feeling as though she couldn't use the effort to speak. "Don't we have to change clothes?"
She nodded again and dragged herself up. Wearing sweat pants had not been the best idea. She somehow opened the hatch to the back from the back seat and pulled out a pair of faded blue shorts and a light brown tank top – she didn't think she could manage a full shirt - moved back to the front. Muttering, 'thank God for muggle camps,' under her breath she changed into the other clothes without completely taking off the ones she was wearing so as not to show any skin.
"Nice talent." Blaise commented after she'd replaced her shirt.
"Muggle camp. Our counselor thought we might need to know it." She shrugged and proceeded to do her shorts, which wouldn't be nearly as difficult. She just had to pull them over her sweat pants and then slip the pants off her legs and pull them through her leg hole.
And then she realized that the shorts weren't the loosest kind, at least not when paired with the baggy pants. She began to undo them and the fastener – a sharp, half circle buckle that slid into a small silver attachment - caught on her pants. She tugged but it wouldn't budge. With an exasperated sigh she began to pull her pants up as high as she could, bunching up the leg through the leg hole in her shorts.
Then she tried getting the buckle out of her pants and pulled as hard as she could. She heard a tear and let out a small noise of triumph – only to find that she'd ripped the pants but they were still attached to her shorts. Stupid, worthless pants! What kind of quality breaks at the smallest of pulls?
With a frustrated sigh she began to push the pants down – but they were so bunch up she couldn't pull them up or push them past the leg hole in her shorts! This is not happening! She began to pull, tug and push them every which way in her desperation, but the only option she really had was to take them both off, which she would not do in front of the people watching.
Draco was laughing at her and she glared at him. "We're here." Blaise announced and climbed out. She bit her lip to keep from shouting something obscene and followed him in her bunched up pant and shorts ensemble.
To her annoyance, the stupid imbecile pulled off his pants with casual ease and replaced them with shorts. Draco did the same, right in the parking lot and she scowled. I have more dignity then that!
"Ready?" Blaise turned to her and couldn't hold back in laughter.
"Just a moment." She said with forced calmness and took out a second pair of shorts to replace inside. "Now lets go."
They met the other team by the door and Ron gaped at her. "Is that muggle fashion?"
Draco and Blaise roared with laughter at her flustered exclamation and she gave a tug of annoyance on the pants. "No, Ron, this is an example of cheap quality clothing!"
She opened the door forcefully and they filed in. At the 'washrooms' sign she veered right and hurried into a stall. With relief she pulled off her pants – with the shorts attached – and pulled on her new shorts.
With a smile she excited the cubical and left her pants in there. Someone else would find better use for them than her.
-
-
"I'm Sensei Joe." A large man with a black braid on his back grinned at them. He was about a head taller then Ron and had a muscular build – but not in a freakish way. His voice was naturally husky and deep and he had dark eyes.
Sheila beamed beside him and James shifted awkwardly, glancing at his muscles. They were standing in what appeared to be an old gym with two doors, the one they'd come from and one in the back. There was a large white circle in the middle of the room, near the door they'd come through.
"Today I'll be working with you – or fighting you, depends on if you get on my bad side – on self-defence. We're going to assume you've dropped your wand and have no magic. Listen to me, I know what I'm doing. Got it?" He looked around at them all and his eyes focused on Hermione.
"Hey, bushy girl, no tank tops! If you get thrown in an awkward position and your shirt shifts…well there'll be more exposure then you'd like. I don't want to go to therapy again."
She nodded, gulping and turned to run to their car and get a t-shirt. "No, Hermione, you must stay in the building."
She turned, horrified, to James. "I need another shirt, though."
"The doors are locked shut anyway." He said unhelpfully.
"But-"
"Here, Granger." She turned to Draco, who was pulling off his own shirt. Evidently he had chosen to wear two overlapped – why she couldn't imagine in this heat - and was giving her the top one. She was relieved that he'd been wearing it for a second, so it wasn't sweaty, and then flushed for a reason other than the heat when he almost pulled the second shirt off with the first, exposing his torso.
She took it gratefully and pulled it over her head. It was a bit long so she tied it at her waist with an extra hair elastic. "Thanks, Malfoy."
"The first thing I'm going to teach you is how to fall. NOW FALL!" Sensei Joe said before Draco could reply.
Surprised, she dropped to her knees and then fell backwards onto the blue mats they were standing on. The back of her head jarred the ground and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
"NO." He said, shaking his head while they stood up. "This is how we do it. Stand up straight. Now squat until your butt is almost touching the floor. Fall backwards onto your butt and roll on your back. KEEP YOUR HEAD TUCKED INTO YOUR CHEST! Hit the floor with the rigid palms of your hands. SLAM THEM!"
He demonstrated with ease after they'd done one poor attempt. Then they began to copy his movements. It felt stiff, but she tried to make her body work the way it was supposed to and focused on making sure she didn't fold her legs first. Then he showed them how to do it sideways – the same concept except you fall to your side, keep the leg of the side not hitting the floor bent straight up and raise your left hand over your face – and began to drill them.
She began to regret wearing shorts, but the mats felt spelled so she wouldn't slap her legs – not to mention arms – on it.
"Acceptable." He said and gestured between them. "Get with your groups." They shuffled together, slightly apprehensive. Draco didn't appear to be enjoying the exercises and was working to keep a scowl off his face.
"Alright, so you have no magic. Only your body. Someone attacks you or harasses you, you can use equal or lesser force then they used! Not excessive use, equal or lesser! They punch you, you can use any limb - anything you have on your body! Headbutt, punch, kick, tackle – as long as it is equal or lesser force. They start beating on your with a slab of wood, can you grab a crowbar and hit them with it? YES!"
Draco, who didn't have a clue what a crowbar was, shifted towards her with a look of small confusion. It appeared that he was going to ask her a question, but he wasn't able to.
"Now, I need a volunteer. You! Blondie boy, come here." Draco sucked in a breath, so quietly only Hermione and Blaise could hear, and stepped forward. "Now, stand with your side parallel to them. Now grab the front of my shirt with your left hand and bring your right hand back like you're going to punch me. Hold the shirt tighter you sissy boy!"
And then in one, fluid motion Draco was flipped over and lay at the Sensei's feet, without so much as a gasp. Hermione blinked down at him on the ground and Sensei smirked.
"You didn't fall right. Guess you guys don't understand the concept. You two ladies, kneel across from each other. Blondie boy and green eyes, go. And you, ginger and mystery man, across."
It didn't take very long to figure out who was who, Harry was the only one with green eyes, Ron had ginger hair and Blaise was left over, so he was probably mystery man. She and Pansy looked at each other with slightly anxious expressions and then knelt down across from each other, legs from the knees up straight at a 90 degree angle.
"Now, one of you is going to push the other back. You are going to FALL PROPERLY, spring back up and push the other person. And so on. Blondie boy, you start. We'll see if you can get something right."
Draco ground his teeth together and then shoved Harry, hard. Harry fell, slapping the ground and rolled back up to push Draco pretty easily. The blonde slammed the ground and rolled back up really fast. It looked very aggressive and hard, no doubt they were releasing some pent up anger with each other. Not to mention frustration.
"Good. Now, all of you GO!"
Pansy pushed her and she fell. With her head tucked she hit the ground and curled back into her original position. After a few she was able to do them with ease. A few more and her forearms were smarting. Several more and her abs were hurting.
Finally, when making it back up was difficult – for some reason the burning made them laugh - he told them to stop. "Can you do it right, now?"
They nodded quickly and he grinned a Chesire grin. "Good. Blondie boy, back here."
Perhaps it was fear or common sense, or a mixture of both, but Draco refrained from commenting on the 'blondie boy' name. "In position."
He clutched Joe's shirt and drew back his hand. She noticed it wasn't trembling, but he did look a bit…frightened. Then again, if she was in that position, staring into the dark eyes of Sensei Joe she wouldn't be completely calm either.
"First, step forward with your right leg around their right. Next, you grab them on this spot near the underside of their elbow that-" Draco hissed as his body bent down and backwards into Joe. He straightened up and then bent double again as Joe squeezed it. "It kicks in a reaction that makes them do this." He did it again and Draco, flushing from embarrassment twisted downwards. "Next, grab their shirt's shoulder and pull them in, HARD!" Draco came forward jerkily, "it's harder to kill you when you're close. Now, take your left leg, insert it right behind their right and pull while pushing them to the ground!"
Draco went slamming into the floor. He could only slap with one hand, as Joe held onto the other arm. "Always hold their arm; it keeps control in your hands. Once they're down, do what you need to keep them down. That whole, 'don't kick someone when they're down' philosophy is stupid. If it's your life or their ribcage KICK THEM WHEN THEY'RE DOWN! Then look around, make sure they don't have an accomplice and RUN!"
She began to wonder if the low huskiness in his voice was really a genetic thing, or just a result of all the yelling he was doing. It was quite a bit more then Mad-Eye Moody's 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE.'
They got back into partners and he walked them through the steps over and over again until they could all do it flawlessly. If they didn't do it with enough energy, he yelled fall and they had to drop. She was sweating from exertion and her abs burned. He walked around and pointed out their faults. He did stop, however, to exclaim with delight over Draco and Harry's enthusiasm when taking down their partner. She'd looked at them out of the corner of her eye to make sure no one was hurt and ended up winded on the ground, while Pansy tried not to laugh. She got tens falls for that.
After reviewing all the falls and doing the throws twice with their partner, they moved on to the next one. Draco 'volunteered' and Joe grinned a bit freakily at him as he slowly walked over to him.
"Grab my shirt with both hands and pull me to you." Draco pulled hard, either from remnant 'enthusiasm' from working with Harry or out of chagrin for the Sensei. He was sweating too and his hair was very messy, sticking up every way.
"There's a saying we use in this. Let – go – of – me - now, exclamation point." He told them and punched Draco's jaw with the front of his fist. "Let," Draco squeaked, though it hadn't been as hard as Joe could punch, obviously. "'Go' is a blunt hit with the bottom of your fist to the front of their face, 'of' is an elbow to the face," Draco closed his eyes, "'me' is when you grab the side of their face with one, clawed hand and snap it over here quickly," Draco's neck cracked and Hermione winced, though the blonde didn't seem to be in intense pain. "For now, you're going to grab their shoulders and pull their right shoulder to your right foot and their left to your left foot with turning their body clockwise." Draco fell. "And the exclamation point is when you kick them and then run."
He forced Draco to get up and then demonstrated the full speed of it. Hermione felt very sorry for Draco by the end, as bruises were already forming on his pale skin.
"Now, in partners."
The next forty five minutes were spent doing that throw and then learning the correct way to make a fist because theirs were horrible, apparently. Then they spent the next fifteen reviewing falling and the other throw while the Sensei prowled around and corrected every mistake they made, however miniscule. "NOTHING is miniscule in a fight for your life!" He yelled by Hermione's ear when she mentioned this to Pansy.
"Now, someone comes up behind you and wraps their hands around your neck." 'Blondie boy' didn't even need prompting, he just grabbed while looking disgruntled. "You get your hands on theirs and square your feet to theirs. As fast as you can, you try to touch your right hand to your left foot.
The Malfoy went soaring in an arc over Joe's shoulder and hit the floor with a bang. Miraculously he sprang back up.
"Good. This is where I'd come charging at you," he laughed evilly, "But I won't today. Now, change of partners. Blondie, you're with ginger. Bushy girl? Go with Mystery man. Green eyes, with baby girl."
She let Blaise throw her first and had a strange, airborne feeling of displacement when he threw her, though it was quickly jarred by her landing. When it was Blaise's turn to be thrown, she was a bit anxious as to how well she could get him over her shoulders, but on the second time he went flying.
Afterwards he had them line up with their left sides facing him. He showed them the proper stance, right foot forward, your left hand up at your face like a microphone and your right at your side like a telephone. His comparisons were lost on Ron, Draco, Blaise and Pansy but they quickly caught on. Then he showed them punches.
"JAB!" Jab was the microphone and "REVERSE" was the telephone.
"ELBOWS IN!" He bellowed and she corrected her arm positions. "FALL RIGHT!"
She grunted as she dragged herself back up and tried not to think of the pain she would be in the next day. Why did they need to learn self defense, anyway? Or was this 'lesson' of sorts a challenge to see who could get it the fastest? She worked harder and ignored the sweat soaking her borrowed shirt.
Then he told them to go for lunch and she thought they were the best words she'd ever heard. They scrambled over to a table in a corner with a plate of sandwiches and two pitchers of icy pumpkin juice and water. She ate hungrily and the ham and cheese felt like a gourmet meal.
"Merlin he hates me." Draco grumbled after checking to see if Joe was in the vicinity. "I'm going to be so bruised tomorrow. I'll bet my hair is atrocious."
She looked at him, with the bruises on him and his hair, messy beyond anything and had to avoid looking at Blaise to keep from laughing.
-
-
They were given twenty minutes, which was enough time for her to gorge herself on three sandwiches and several glasses full of water. Joe called them back and they did a thirty minute review.
"FALL RIGHT! JAB! REVERSE! JAB! JAB! REVERSE! RIGHT KICK! REVERSE! REVERSE!" He yelled as he paced in front of them and they kicked and punched. Thankfully, he didn't expect them to do it in unison.
Then they moved on to the throws and she was paired with Blaise again. Joe instructed them to incorporate the kicks, punches and throws all together with dodges and jumps.
"Alright. Sheila, James?" Joe called out and she turned as the pair strode towards them, looking immaculately dressed and clean.
"I think you'll be happy to know, all this work was in preparation for a challenge!" Sheila called out happily, clutching James' arm, their previous conflict seeming forgotten. "BOYS!"
Her indignant thoughts of was in preparation for a challengewere silenced immediately as the back door opened and in trooped three men in complete black – with black belts, she noticed. "These are your opponents."
Sudden dread pooled in her stomach as James went on. "Each one of you will be individually set up against these three men and-"
"And me." Joe grinned viciously and Draco let out a quiet moan.
"You'll start on this circle," James gestured at the white taped circle on the ground. "As soon as someone grabs you, you're being timed. Your goal is to get to the back door and step through it. Then they'll stop coming after you."
She gulped as the distance to the back door seemed to grow rapidly. "Use as much as you've just learned as you can. Now, if you'll please get with your group."
She went to stand by Draco and Blaise, biting her lip. There was no way they could do this. Four trained black belts against three hours of training? The sandwiches felt hard in her stomach and she regretted so much water. All the men were completely massive.
"We're going to flip a coin to determine which group will start us off. Call it, please." Sheila threw up what Hermione assumed was a muggle coin.
"Tails." Harry said quickly.
"Heads." She nodded in assent.
"Heads it is." Sheila said happily and Joe looked at the men in black while everyone else turned to their group. "Who wants to go first?"
Hermione felt rather then heard or saw Draco and Blaise step back away from her. Those dirty little traitors! Such cowards! Joe turned back and saw her ahead of the others. "Good! Bushy girl's got courage."
She turned back to glare at the others for abandoning her. "C'mon bushy girl!"
She took a deep breath and stepped forwards. Her heart was racing wildly and it felt like all noise had been cut away from her. The others stepped back against the wall and she slowly walked into the circle, not daring to look at the door she had to get to. Say, by some miracle, she got to the door and opened it, only to have someone grab her while her back was turned?
"Alright. Okay if we put on a little music for more effects?" Sheila asked brightly and Hermione just nodded. Clearly she was enjoying this.
She tried to breathe evenly but found she couldn't. I can do this. It won't be too hard. Just a few black belts is all. I'll live…hopefully…They can't possibly be black belts, its insane, how are we supposed to get away from them? Unless they're just pretending to freak us out… Yes, that must be right! It's silly to think they would do this to us; we could be seriously injured!
However, she couldn't stop imagining the painful things they could do to her and was near hyperventilation by the time she was standing in the circle. It felt like every heartbeat was stretching her skin into the shape of her heart, causing a strange, blob like protrusion from her chest. She didn't need to look to see it was just a feeling. She closed her eyes and waited, her heart beating frantically in her chest.
For a second it was like complete peace, besides the feeling of dread circulating in her body, because she couldn't hear or see anyone. She realized she should probably be listening and bowed her head.
And then – someone wrapped their arms around her neck and tightened them, constricting her breath in the same instant the music turned on, blasting some sort of song that should accompany an action movie. She let out a choked gasp and she reached up with her own arms as her eyes flew open. Her naturally analytical mind took in her surroundings quickly and her instincts caught on, not knowledge of what they'd just learned. She kicked back with her leg and when she felt him loosening his grip she ripped them off her neck and pushed him away, onto the ground. She kicked him in the side and tried to sprint away, but he wasn't completely disabled and wrapped both arms around her left ankle, bringing her crashing down to the floor. Always hold onto one arm! Somehow, her rabid, OWL / NEWT preparing Hermione in her head managed to chastise her on that mistake.
She let out a loud grunt and tried to turn onto her back mid-fall, and landed painfully on her side. She kicked the guy holding her in the face and barely registered the crunch of a broken nose as she scrambled to her feet and ducked to avoid the punch aimed at her face from someone else.
She turned on the two advancing; the other was clutching his nose as it streamed with blood and looked very angry. Where's Joe? A part of her managed to wonder as she kicked Blackbelt 1 in the back of his calf while another jumped on top of her, dragging her to the floor.
She punched him in the gut and winced as her hand met hard muscle. He took her hands and pinned them by her head as he climbed on top of her and she began to panic. In the background she heard Stronger playing and it reminded her of the day they'd engaged in the car chase, and Draco had screamed wildly while she drove them away from the police…
She acted quickly and shrieked loudly and poor Blackbelt 2 – though she couldn't feel that much sympathy - was right near her face. He was struck dumb and covered his ears, flinching and she took that to dislodge him by bucking her hips and shoving him bodily off. There was no way a black belt would do that. Blackbelt 3 was coming straight for her and she was terrified by his sheer size. He grabbed the front of her shirt and her body kicked in. Let – go –of – me – NOW! She clawed his face and threw him down at her feet, making sure to hold onto his arm and kicked him soundly. Exclamation point! Reverse!
It was almost like she was teaching herself what to do as she began to name the punches and kicks and took out a very resilient 1. Reasonable thought left her mind as adrenaline took over. She let out a strange, war cry as she kicked 1 between his legs and then turned to punch 3 with a reverse.
2 came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, securing her own against her sides. She struggled to get loose, but she could hardly move. Something punctured the skin on her shoulder and she realized with horror that he'd had just bit her!
"That is disgusting!" She shouted and threw her head back so it hit his and he let out a cry of pain. "Do you have any idea how many germs are in your saliva! There are an estimated 700 species of commensal mouth bacteria in there! " The best thing about having big, bushy hair was that it had hardly hurt to hit his head. It was like a protective shield. If, say, a Frisbee flying swiftly towards her hit it, she would hardly feel it at all.
She kicked him between the legs as well and he dropped beside 1, who still hadn't gotten back up. 3 looked at his fallen comrades and somehow dodged around her kick and whipped her feet out from under her. He is not going to climb on me!
She rolled out of his way as he made to jump on her and sprang to her feet. He grabbed her ankle and dragged her back down. Fatigue was beginning to make its way into her brain and she tried to shake it off, to focus on the adrenaline. She shook her ankle and his grip tightened.
"You're a stupid child!" He said, lip curling.
That does it. She gritted her teeth together and locked her legs, before turned right and jerking her legs left. "I am not stupid and I am not a child. Don't you dare insult my intelligence!" She sat up and smashed her feet into his hand. He cried out and she clambered to her feet. 2 was getting up, holding himself in his area – serves you right! – and Hermione ran forward, punching him in the face. 1 was still down on the ground and, before she could stop to think about it she was sprinting as fast as she could to the door, her arms pumping at her sides.
She heard a shout behind her and couldn't figure out if it was encouragement from those on the sidelines or anger from those pursuing her. Someone jumped down in front of her, as though he'd been holding onto the ceiling and she was confused. Weren't there only three of them?
She dodged out of the way and around him, but for the second time hands fastened around her neck and her breath was taken from her in a garbled gasp. She squared her feet, grabbed his hands and pulled with as much force as she could.
"SCREW YOU!" She yelled and didn't have time to feel ashamed at her outburst, because he deserved it! How dare he try and stop her! She was Hermione Granger, and if she wanted something, she would work to get it! He went flying over her shoulder and hit the door, before falling to rest at its base.
It was Sensei Joe.
"Oh God." She whispered, because he looked really angry. Almost deranged, actually. She looked behind her and saw, in half a second, the others stumbling after her. There was no other choice. Her arms were sore and tired and every part of her body felt bruised and full of lead.
Sucking in a deep breath and drawing on the last of her energy, she sprinted forward, right at Joe. He was crawling onto his knees, so her time was short. She let out a loud yell and jumped, throwing herself forward into the air. The force of her jump sent her sailing over Joe, who reached up a hand that almost closed around her leg and into the door, which flung open and she fell onto the pavement, groaning.
A second after pain she felt jubilation. She'd done it! She'd escaped! "YES!" She tried to get up and couldn't. All the strength in her body had dissipated, so she clutched the metal bars outside the door and heaved herself up, beaming.
She pulled herself through the door, relying on the strength of the wall to get through and came face to face with Sensei Joe. He glared at her and she glared back. There was no way she would back down after she'd won.
His glare changed into a nod of approval. "Congratulations."
She nodded back and hobbled over to the others, who were sitting on a platform that someone must have conjured. Harry and Ron came running over, looking worried and asked her about the condition of her bones. When they realized nothing was wrong they began to rave about how excellent it was.
"Joe went FLYING!" Ron said, gesturing wildly with his hands. "And then you yelled screw you! That was priceless."
"I think I'd like to sit down." She said, feeling a bit numb and they helped her over to the platform, where she sat down and chugged some water.
"Nice, Granger." Draco said offhandedly, a bit pale. "Feeling okay?"
"I'm okay." She said, smiling widely at him. "I've lost a lot of the feeling in my body, but it will come back."
"Good job, Hermione! Only eight minutes and twenty seven seconds!" Sheila exclaimed, "That was amazing!"
"Who's up next?" Joe called out and Draco stepped forward, his face a careful neutral.
Draco was pretty good. He beat her by a two minutes and thirteen seconds, but had a much harder time with Joe then she did. By the time he was done, he was quite bruised and looked like he might pass out from exhaustion. Nevertheless, he looked satisfied. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when he was done, but immediately felt worried again for Blaise. To the surprise of all, Blaise escaped in four minutes, forty three seconds. Though it could be because of his strategy. He kissed 1 right on the lips and then took him out using the first throw they'd done. Then he'd proceeded to grab the other two in inappropriate places until 2 finally shouted, "We're supposed to be the ones doing that to you!" Apparently his tactic was distract first, hurt later.
Then Blaise socked him in the jaw and ran to the door, dodging Joe completely by throwing himself sideways around the man and rolling into the door. Draco muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, 'man whore,' but gave him a one armed hug when he'd finished anyway.
Harry went first for the other team, and finished a few seconds earlier than Blaise. He was very quick when running so none of them could catch him and easily he got away from them. Ron beat Draco by a few seconds, though he had quite a bit of difficulty fending off the three men. Pansy however, took eleven minutes. She was so nervous that when someone touched her she screamed hysterically and more than half of her escape attempts failed.
Finally, they were done and they got to eat again, which was a relief because her appetite had come back in full force. Sheila and James had also decided to show them their challenges, so the screen (Charlotte, as James chuckled gaily) projected a large play by play account of their fights, with their teammates' reaction on one side and the fight on the other.
She found it quite strange to see herself on television, because it had such good quality it was like a muggle television show, except they got a bunch more feeds to add to the effect.
When someone choked her for the first time she flinched and then watched in bemusement as her ankle was caught and she grunted, before falling to the ground. At her first proper throw she felt a bubble of pride as she saw Joe nod in approval from the rafters, where he hid creepily for everyone. Of course, she was the only one who hadn't realized it.
She actually gaped when it got to the point of her screaming 'SCREW YOU' to Sensei Joe. It showed the people watching and Draco was gaping at her, Blaise was smiling a bit and Harry and Ron were gripping the edges of the stage and looked like they were trying not to go running out to her.
And then, as she prepared to jump over him she had the strangest expression on her face, a mixture of determination, amusement and a slightly delirious look of insanity. What she thought was just a loud yell turned out to sound like a deranged call of a mutant monkey.
She looked over at the rest and smiled to herself when she saw Draco gripping the side of the stage, too. "I'm alive." She told him and he froze, before peeling off his fingers and folding his arms over his chest.
"Unfortunately." He said coldly and then winced as she went crashing through the door. "I suppose I do like you better alive."
"What a miracle." She rolled her eyes at him and then cringed when Draco was tackled to the ground. He watched her for a minute and then turned away, grey eyes warm.
-
-
By the time they got back to the car, she was exhausted. It took a lot of her energy just to open the door to the car and crawl into the front seat. Her limbs felt like lead and her eyelids drooped, before fluttering back open quickly. She hadn't realized how little sleep she'd gotten the night before until now.
Draco took the wheel and started up the ignition, before saying in a sing-song voice, "hey Granger, seatbelt."
She sighed and shifted until she was sitting properly, before pulling the seatbelt over her torso and buckling it in. Not only did it hurt to touch most part of her skin, her limbs felt heavy, but the muscles also ached. When she leaned forwards to turn on the radio, her abs screamed in pain and she let out a pained grunt.
"Merlin my muscles are killing me." Blaise complained from the back. "Do you have any of that ointment left?"
"I think so. Check in my small bag, it's on the floor – yeah right there." Draco said quietly from the front and Blaise rolled onto the floor, and began to look through Draco's bag, tossing things this way and that.
"Thank Merlin." Blaise said and sighed blissfully, revealing a small, circular jar. "Do you want some?"
"Yes," Draco said scornfully, "obviously. But I'm driving so I'll get it later."
Blaise shrugged and turned to Hermione, who was watching through half-lidded eyes. "It's this ointment Draco's mother had made for him. Relaxes the muscles and stops pain; it works brilliantly. Just rub a bit onto wherever it hurts and-"
"Yes, please!" She said and he unscrewed the lid. The faint smell of vanilla floated to her nostrils and she bit back a laugh. Draco had it scented as vanilla? She rubbed it onto her arms, her neck, and then lifted her shirt a bit to put some on her abs.
Blaise accepted it back and she sighed as the relief from the ache took over. "This is good stuff."
"I know," Blaise said, stripping off his shirt carelessly. "I always used to nick it off him after Quidditch and the like."
She swallowed heavily as her eyes met his naked torso. Of course she'd seen glimpses of him without a shirt, countless times, but she'd never actually seen. And now, in her only half conscious mind took in his nearly unflawed coffee skin, save the scar just above his right hip bone. His pants were resting, buckled, on his hips and her eyes trailed down the hair speckled across him down to his… was that a… She almost gasped as she saw the stud decorating his right nipple.
Oh my god. She turned away quickly, flushing heavily. He was so…promiscuous and forthcoming! Did he realize what freaky girls everywhere could do with pictures of him as he was? And probably guys too! She shook her head to clear the low fuzz coming over her and grabbed her bag, which was still beside the front seat and she didn't have to look back at Blaise.
She opened her e-mail on the laptop she'd been given and was startled to find there were seven messages. All were from Jacob.
To: Hermione
From: Guess who?
Subject: None
Time: 12:51 PM
Hey Hermione
So how is it going with the boys? It's quite boring over here. Andrea and whatshisname broke up, but she hasn't found someone new yet. Thank God. Actually, she spends a lot of time shut up in her room. Maybe she's going into withdrawal from not being with someone.
So, I just want to talk… Your phone is off, so I've left a message.
Reply soon!
Jacob
To: Hermione
From: Guess who?
Subject: None
Time: 1:47PM
Hey Hermione
Are you really busy? Usually you can answer faster. Are the boys keeping you down?
Talk to you soon
Jacob
To: Hermione
From: Jacob
Subject: None
Time: 2:56 PM
Hey Hermione
Sorry to bother you again, it's just I'd really like to hear your voice and chat for a bit. Hopefully you get this message soon. I've left you another message on your phone.
Jacob
To: Hermione
From: Jacob
Subject: None
Time: 6:38 PM
Hermione
I hope you don't see me as a clingy boyfriend now. It's just… forgive me for being too weird, but I really feel like seeing you would be reassuring. We are still meeting, yeah?
Jacob
To: Hermione
From: Jacob
Subject: None
Time: 8:23 AM
Hermione
Look, I'm getting really impatient. I need to talk to you. It's more important than whatever homework project you must be doing, please phone me! I can't wait around forever!
Jacob
To: Hermione
From: Jacob
Subject: None
Time: 8:39 AM
Hermione
I'm sorry, that last e-mail was impatient and pushy. I just find it difficult not to be able to talk to you right now, it is important; I'm not lying about that. Please phone me.
Jacob
To: Hermione
From: Jacob
Subject: None
Time: 10:22 AM
Hermione
Just please tell me, are you avoiding me? If so, just know that THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Jacob
P.S. I'm sorry for clogging up your answering machine.
She stared at the screen for a minute and then deleted all his messages, before pulling out her cell phone. There were 17 messages, the subjects starting out calm and getting more and more agitated. She deleted them without listening. Why bother?
She looked up and choked when she saw Blaise sitting in the seat behind Draco, rubbing lotion onto his shoulders. The blonde looked very irritated, but wouldn't push him away because of the soothing effects of it. Blaise, on the other hand, had a big, mischievous grin on his face.
"Merlin Blaise, do you have to be so whore-ish?" Draco asked and the winced as the pressure on his neck increased. "Put a shirt on, will you? And that piercing is horrible. I can't believe you and Theodore actually had that done."
Blaise chuckled, "It was fun. Besides, I don't mind putting my hands to good use."
"I'm sure," Draco rolled his eyes. "You've forgotten that I have put up with your questionable characteristics and actions for the past few years."
Blaise shrugged. "Yeah, well, who cares if I shag half the planet?"
"I know someone who does." Draco muttered under his breath. "So, Granger, what's wrong with Jackson?"
"It's Jacob." She said, startled. She'd forgotten all about that as something hot and selfish pooled in her stomach. Jealousy. She cringed. But it was true, she had felt some sort of jealous feeling watching the easy companionship the two had. It was strange, but she would see Harry and Ron soon, she wouldn't feel so friendless. Surely, that's what it was? "Just making sure we are meeting."
Draco snorted. "How many times has he checked that?"
She couldn't deny that it bothered her a bit. "He's making sure my schedule hasn't changed. It's sweet."
Draco grumbled something about control freak boyfriends and Blaise replied with a dirty comment involving a control freak boyfriend, bondage and a chair. Draco slapped him on the head.
Her cell phone lay forgotten as they turned the conversation to the prize, who would they try and vote onto HOH? Since it was turned off, anyone who called would end up going straight to her now empty answering machine. So when a certain someone phoned, yet again, that's what happened.
"Hey, Hermione, this is Jacob… again. About my last message… I don't really have a choice; they called me two days ago… You know that, right? Please call me."
Author's Note: I watched my first episode of Big Brother the other day, and then they went to decide the Head of Household and called it HOH and I almost died! Reviewers have compared it to that, but I didn't realize they had that similarity TOO! It was so strange! But it was monumental, seriously. Gave me some ideas…hehe.
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