HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Author's Note: There's really no excuse for this. I actually started feeling MISERABLE when I got questions about this story in reviews for TI. I am so, so sorry about the lateness. Who knows, maybe the year of 2009 will hold MUCH faster updates! –snickers somewhat disbelievingly- Oh dear…
My science teacher was doing chemistry review (My exams start on the 22nd, and then continue to the 27th…Oh God…) and he wrote the Bohr Rutherford diagrams for the covalent bond between hydrogen and oxygen (for those of you who know this, I feel your pain!)…And he said, 'So you write the atomic symbols…H…O…H.' and I looked at the board and went, 'OH MY GOD IT'S EVERYWHERE!'
Disclaimer: I don't own it. If I did, I'd be fired, and spend the next few years crying myself to sleep. Wait, can authors be fired?
Props to my wonderful beta Nikki, who is quite superb.
"Welcome back! We're about to find out who wins the negotiation proposal rights…" Sheila smiled at the two teams from their positions on the stage and then turned to the audience. There had been about a fifteen minute break while packed up the things they'd brought with them. Sheila and James and come over and asked to speak to Blaise, who slipped into the room about a minute before they were told to go back on. Draco asked what they'd wanted, but he'd shrugged and just beamed. "Remember, you voted! The fate of these teams rests in your hands!"
"Hold your breath." James advised, opening a small envelope and pulling out a piece of paper. "And the winner is…"
Hermione inhaled. She'd always scoffed at the attempts hosts and hostesses made to increase the anticipation by extended pauses, but realized that they really did work. How strange it was, to find that things she'd found stupid and a waste of time were actually very effective.
"Hm, it appears that there's a complication!" He said jovially, as though they hadn't made the complication part of the show. "The audience not only voted on the best performance, but who gets the opportunity to make up the exchange…And they're different results!"
She felt a sudden surge of hope and realized that she really, really wanted to win. To know that what they'd done had been appreciated and well met would be indescribable. She wondered if Draco and Blaise felt the same, but when she saw their expressions of barely contained excitement decided it was highly likely.
"Should we let the audience decide on both accounts?" James asked Sheila with a fake look of puzzlement.
"Of course!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, in a way that suggested it hadn't been as shocking as they'd wanted it to seem. "Well, shall we hear the results!?"
Hermione looked at Blaise, whose hands were hooking and unhooking on his jeans to Draco, who was biting his lip in nervousness. Her heart began to speed up and anticipation and her hands clenched on the skirt she was still wearing from her solo.
"The winner of the singing portion of this challenge is…"
A long, tense silence that was filled by the expectant laughter of the crowd.
"The Bloody Fuckers."
She grinned, eyes closing of their own accord as the audience cheered and she, Blaise and Draco pulled into a quick, happy group hug. For a moment she inhaled and a wonderful sense of closeness and warmth surrounded her, and then they pulled apart and looked back at Sheila and James.
"That means that, since the audience made their choice, The Pansy Pickers have negotiation rights!" Even the inevitable trade of Hermione for Pansy couldn't ruin her elation. She was grinning widely, trying not to let out a small shriek of happiness. "Now, if the teams have no further questions?"
No one moved.
"Well, Bloody Fuckers, your half hour starts now! So I suggest you run!"
She was unprepared and it took her mind a moment longer than her body to realize they were supposed to run. She took off after the boys as they hurriedly snatched up their bags and such from the dressing room, thankful that they'd already packed up. She stumbled on a chair and dropped a shoe and Blaise nearly ran into the door while tripping Draco and sending him sprawling. However, they'd soon gotten themselves together and over the abruptness of their directions and, after she snatched the sign of the door, were dashing into the parking lot.
Blaise yanked open the side door to the car and threw himself in. She sprinted around the side of the car and took the passenger seat as Draco chucked his armful after Blaise and jumped into the front. As her door slammed shut the sound of the car starting filled her ears and then they were exiting the parking lot and driving onto the empty road. She breathed deeply and opened a window, slumping against the seat.
"Nice of them to give us some warning." Blaise said, slightly out of breath. "I was going to take a few pictures of the dressing room. The mirrors would have reflected the light and the clothes would have-"
"Yes, yes, we know." Draco said, interrupting him. "But there are more important things to discuss. The switch."
They both looked at her and then looked away, causing an awkward silence. "Do we have to elect someone to represent us, then? Or do you think they'll choose?"
"Does it matter?" Hermione interrupted suddenly. "We all know what's going to happen anyway, so who cares who does the actual trade 'acceptance' thing?"
"We haven't discussed it." Draco pointed out, tightening his hands on the car wheel.
"I'm not stupid, Malfoy. You know as well as I do that they're going to ask to trade Pansy for me, it was obvious inside the club, too. You also know as well as I do that whoever is the rep for our team is going to accept. Don't try and pretend you don't." She snapped, not even sure why she was so upset.
"Really? I had no idea you could read minds, Granger." Draco snarled, shooting her an icy glare.
"Well, that's just one more thing you'll have to rejoice in after you'd traded me off."
"I've traded you off? When did I get roped into doing this-"
"What, Malfoy, is saying 'yes' too big of a challenge?"
"If you're the one going why don't you just do it yourself?"
"Because I don't want to!"
"Why not?"
"Would you two stop arguing?" Blaise asked angrily, digging through a duffle bag on the floor. "Obviously none of us are happy about this situation-"
"Yes, some of us are." Hermione said, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm happy. I'll be glad to get away from him. Though I'll admit, Blaise, it's been fun hanging around you."
Blaise stopped moving and looked up at her, surprising animosity glittering in his eyes. "I'm glad to see you're so nonchalant and uncaring about the whole thing. I'd hate to see you upset at all."
Her patience with him snapped. She could deal with Draco, she'd expected him to react automatically if she used the right tone, but she'd thought Blaise would remain calm. "What's to be upset about? I'll be glad to be away from both of you and your whining. I'm sure being back with Pansy will be very comforting for the both of you, so your fat egos can be stroked."
"I'd rather be with Potter than you. At least he doesn't pretend to be a smart know-it-all." Draco snapped and Hermione felt a moment of hurt. She stood up, hands clenched in fists and pushed past the two seats, Blaise and locked herself in the Confession Box.
She sat down heavily and bit the inside of her cheek, fuming. "I can't believe him! That-inconsiderate-immature-stupid-selfish-blonde-ugly-grey-eyed-prat!"
She was breathing heavily from anger and rubbed her temples, trying to calm down. It was such an irrational response, but then, so were all her reactions to things Draco did. He was such an antagonistic person. It was quite unfortunate, really, that they were enemies, because he was one of the few people who could get under her nerves no matter the situation.
"I don't know what his problem is, but by the time I finally get to leave, I'll be happy!" She huffed, hastily wiping her eyes. "I know it probably seems like I'm in tears, but I'm not! I'm just really, really angry!"
She coughed a bit and wiped her eyes again, sniffing. "I'm just angry. There's really nothing to be upset about, because I don't like them at all! They're stupid, annoying gits who are just as arrogant as we always thought they were! I miss Harry and Ron already. When we're together again this whole experience will be a big laugh, and maybe I'll actually start enjoying my time here."
-
-
"Wow. So… the switch. This is cool." Pansy said, nodding. "You'll be free of me, soon!"
"Mmm." Harry replied, eyes fixed on the road. Ron was sitting in the back, texting, and completely ignoring them. The entire show was turning out to be a disappointment. At first he'd been angry, but then he'd realized he could be with Hermione and Ron (and, unfortunately, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini) or with the Dursleys. So he'd warmed up a bit to the idea, especially because they could do magic – or at least, after his birthday. Then they'd introduced the road trip, which he'd been annoyed at because that took magic out of the picture, but he was with Ron. He would have much preferred Hermione to Pansy, but she'd turned out to be OK and he even considered being friends with her.
Until they'd found out about the switch. Both teams had seemed to accept and decide that they would be trading the girls without considering the possibility of leaving the teams. It was fine, he figured, he would be glad to have Hermione back, but it seemed a waste to be rid of Pansy and then lose what traces of friendship was there. It would be exactly like that, too. They would be exactly like that, too. Slytherins versus Gryffindors. Silver versus Gold. It would be so easy to slip back into the roles of hating each other.
Of course, his whole not-hating only extended as far as Pansy, who was still pug faced and stupid.
"So, should I be the one to, you know, tell them what we want?" She asked nervously, biting her lip and twirling a lock of hair around her finger.
"If you want to." He shrugged and Ron didn't seem inclined to join the conversation.
"Ok." She said, nodding. "So, me for Hermione, yeah?"
"I guess." He said, not feeling like talking. She didn't pick up on that, or just ignored it.
"So, I suppose we'll all be happier after the switch."
"Look, Parkinson, I'm trying to drive." He finally snapped, because she was severely lacking Hermione's power of perception. He didn't want to talk to Pansy.
"Oh. Sorry." She said snottily, her previous insecurity disappearing. "I didn't realize you're so stupid you can't drive and talk at the same time."
"Piss off." He snarled and she huffed, stood up and moved to the back seat. Ron took her position, but didn't seem at all interested in talking. He was too involved in the conversation he was having on the phone, which irritated Harry to the point that he wanted to take it, put it under a wheel and run over it a few times.
This show had done wonders for his relationships.
Not.
-
-
The next morning Hermione awoke feeling unsatisfied and distressed. She'd only left the small room to get her bag, a pillow and a blanket. She'd slept in the Confession Box, which wasn't exactly comfortable, given the structure of the chair, but she rebelled instinctively from the idea of being near Draco. She'd had one vivid dream involving him, where he stood alongside her being handed over to Sheila and James in exchange for money while she pleaded for him to forgive her. It wasn't exactly pleasant.
A heavy, resigned and horrible feeling filled her and she realized after a moment it was because of the impending switch. They'd mentioned it would be before they got back to the house, and they had no idea what time that would be…So it could be seconds before she was moved onto The Pansy Pickers' team. How strange, that there would be a team with Pansy in the title, and yet Pansy herself would be a Bloody Fucker. She hadn't realized how much she'd begun to like their team name until she faced losing it.
Pushing a hot, angry emotion away she got up and stretched, grimacing when several bones in her back cracked. She checked her watch and was disturbed to see that it was 10:32. She'd slept in very late. Knowing the two males they'd probably already negotiated her away.
She opened the door crack and spotted Draco sleeping in the back seat, face an innocent mask of peace. He was probably dreaming about her impending loss from their team. His lips quirked in a smile and she wished she could get away with bludgeoning him over the head with something. Preferably heavy. The stupid git.
"Finally decided to come out?" Blaise asked from the front in a neutral voice. She shrugged, which he obviously didn't catch, but she didn't speak.
Draco's body took up the entire seat, so she went and sat in the front beside Blaise. He didn't speak to her and she looked out the window for awhile, holding her pillow to her chest. Drops of rain hit the window and blurred her vision, leaving trails of moisture in her sight. The sky was grey and raindrops began to fall heavily, turning the roads black. It took her a moment to realize that the inside of the car was unfocused as well and that she was crying.
She was being silly. How could she be crying? It was just a television show. It was just Blaise and Draco, for God's sake! She would get to be with Harry and Ron, which was a good thing!
Her tear ducts traitorously continued to release moisture and she was afraid Blaise would notice. She was certainly sniffing enough and she couldn't very well wipe her eyes, because that would be extremely obvious.
A flash drew her attention and she turned incredulously to Blaise, her crying momentarily forgotten. "Did you just take a picture of me?"
"Er, yes." He said, dropping a camera to the floor. "But it was a really great shot."
"I don't care about really great shots!" She exclaimed angrily, resisting the urge to throw the camera out the window. "I don't care! You can't just take pictures of people without their consent!"
"It was a good shot, though. I'll show it to you, and you'll see why." He said, as though what she was saying meant nothing.
"Don't take pictures of me," she snapped, "It's rude. Especially when I- Just don't take pictures of me, alright?"
A silence filled the car and she wondered if he regretted setting her off like that. She was horrified to find that the anger had just made her eyes water more and she was finding it difficult to stop. Rain pattered against the roof and windows and she was feelings very cold from the air conditioner. She turned it off and turned on the radio, but hated the song playing and turned it back off.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" Blaise's voice sounded hesitant and she was startled.
"Erm, no thanks." She said, sounding congested.
"You look like you could use a cup of tea." He said quietly. "I'm sorry about the picture."
"Sure." She said, "But no tea. We don't have time."
"We're almost there." He replied in his low voice, as though he was afraid to wake up Draco. "They phoned and said that there was no prize for whoever gets there first, and so whenever the last team arrives is when we'll start."
"Oh." She stared out the window, hardly noticing when Blaise pulled up to a coffee shop, struggled his way through asking for something and then somehow paid the woman at the drive thru, who instead of looking annoyed eyed him up through the window.
Hermione was shocked when she saw three cups glide through the window on a tray and, after peeking in the mirror, saw Draco sitting up, clearly awake. He avoided her eyes and she avoided his in favour of opening up the lid of her cup and inhaling. The heat cleared her mind and it smelled like raspberries.
There was a stiff, hard silence in the car as Blaise continued to drive, and her heart began to beat frantically as he pulled into a driveway. "This is it."
There was no fighting about opening the door; she pulled it open immediately and walked down the corridor alone. The two males followed her quietly and she wondered what they were thinking. Inside the only door there were two vacant tables and, leaning casually against them, were Sheila and James.
"Hello, Bloody Fuckers!" Sheila said, though she looked a bit sorry to see them. Hermione hoped they hadn't been shagging against the table. That thought alone made her grimace, which did not go unnoticed by Draco, but he probably interpreted it as a reaction to something else. "You've arrived first, so we might have to wait a bit for the other group. The last time we checked in with them, they were in a bit of a state…Anyways, make yourselves comfortable!"
"Can I just go sit in their table, since we all know that's going to be the result of this whole affair?" She asked, knowing she was being a rude and childish.
"I'm afraid not; you're still a member of the Bloody Fuckers' team." Sheila gave her a small, reassuring smile. "You can't write history before its happened, hun!"
"Yeah, well, history is too easily predictable." She said darkly, before taking a seat at their table. It was silent.
"You know, I think we'll start the interviews." James said, "I'm sensing some tension."
Sheila caught their confused looks. "We want to have a bit of progress interviews, and since the competition is in a bit of a toss up right now, we thought it would be a good time for people to sort out their thoughts."
"Does anyone want to start?" He asked and she jumped to her feet, eager to get away from Draco and his imploring grey eyes. "Well, Hermione, your enthusiasm is very becoming!"
"Thanks," she said, hurrying after Sheila across the room and through another door. It was a small and had a comfortable looking couch and a chair in front of it. She took the couch.
"So, Hermione." Sheila said, picking up a professional tone. "How have you been enjoying the latest challenge?"
"It was awful at first," she shrugged, "But I suppose none of us is dead yet, so it was somewhat successful."
"Hm, you're very optimistic." The other female said and Hermione just laughed. "What do you think of your team mates?"
"Well, we've never really gotten along, but we were doing better for awhile…" She said, trying not to give a long answer in fear that it would prompt a rant.
"Come on, Hermione! We're talking, girl to girl! I know you've been having some problems, you must want to talk to someone about it." Sheila smiled confidentially.
"Well, fine." She assented. "Honestly? I think this whole trading this is bogus. If you were going to let us switch teams, then why would you put us in these positions at the start? I'm really tired of fighting with Malfoy all the time and with Blaise taking pictures of me and acting, well, so promiscuous. It would be so much easier to be on a team where we all got along."
"Very understandable." The older woman said empathically. "So, who do you think should go?"
"I guess me." She said, "I'm the problem. They get along, so they'll be happier with Pansy."
"I see." For some reason her interviewer looked annoyed. "Well, thank you Hermione. Please return to your group."
She nodded and left, pleasantly surprised to see Harry and Ron had arrived. She joined them at their table, smiling. "Hello, you two!"
"Hi." Ron and Harry mumbled, looking a bit harassed.
"Are you OK? They mentioned you were in a 'state.'" She inquired, crossing her legs and leaning back.
"Yeah. Parkinson just got a bit annoyed with us-"
"For no reason!" Ron inserted helpfully, "She was criticising his driving."
"And we got pulled over by the police. She started flipping out." Harry finished glumly. "And now she's in a snit over there. We didn't do anything."
"Hm." She glanced at the blond, who looking very angry and was gesturing wildly with her arms. Blaise – Draco had gone to be interviewed – just nodded. "I suppose emotions are just running high."
"I guess."
They talked easily, but she was distracted. There was a buzzing in her head and she kept looking over at the other table. The interviews progressed in periods of a few minutes, and when finally Ron – who was last to go – returned, she and Pansy were made return to their teams' tables. She couldn't bring herself to meet the eyes of Blaise and Draco, and when Sheila began talking she focused intently on her words.
"Well, wasn't that fun?" She asked, and it seemed to be a rhetorical question. "If there are no objections, we shall proceed onward! If the Pansy Pickers will now state who they want to trade, we'll get this show on the road! Pun intended!"
No one laughed. Pansy stood up and moved to a small podium James had conjured up. Draco had snorted when they'd done it and Hermione had smiled, but their eyes had met across the table and suddenly it had been less funny. "We've decided to negotiate my trade for Hermione's." Pansy said, and stepped back, sitting down.
"Now, before the Bloody Fuckers respond, we have a few video clips to show." Sheila and James both beamed with their fake smiles and then turned their attention to a conveniently appearing television screen. The lights dimmed slightly and Hermione could have sighed. It was so cliché.
The series of clips was pretty much anything interesting they'd said in their interviews. It showed them all saying who they thought should be traded – it was the same for all of them, Hermione and Pansy, though there was general hesitation before answering. Except with Hermione. She realized as she watched that she looked completely unfazed and spoke matter-of-factly. Both parties were intensely relieved when the lights turned back on, and Hermione began to wish she hadn't come on this show.
"Now, we'll give the Bloody Fuckers one minute to deliberate and make your decision."
They looked at each other. "We discussed it in the car." She said and they both nodded. "Well, I guess we're done."
James insisted they wait the full minute, and then asked Draco up to the podium. He stood up and walked casually up, as though he was walking around a park. Except, Hermione mused, a park was probably too undignified for him. Maybe his manor grounds, or a palace.
"On behalf of the Bloody Fuckers," he said, "I decline."
Hermione had already half stood up and her head whipped around to face him. He merely shrugged and then strolled back to their table and sat down. "Alright, Granger? You look like you're having a stroke."
She sat down, hard. What? Did he just decline? Is that even allowed? She was frozen in shock. The whole situation seemed so dramatic and exaggerated. It was a switch of their groups, groups that none of them were supposed to like being in. And yet she felt a staggering emotion, like relief, and wondered why it was she even wanted to stay with them.
But she did, which was slightly worrisome.
Slightly.
-
-
When they climbed back into the car, they were all laughing at a joke Blaise had said and she felt wonderful. It must have been because they would be getting back to the house within the day, and then being able to walk around and eat decent food, though she admitted some of it might have been because they'd kept her. Draco had kept her. The past few weeks made her cringe when she thought about all the time they'd spent, just driving. It was a miracle none of them had gone mental.
She considered her powerful reluctance to leave her team and decided that maybe she had liked their time, just not in an obvious way. They'd had interesting experiences, certainly, and it would be cause for some great memories. After their laughter subsided and they'd pulled out onto the road – it went unnoticed by no one that the cars went in opposite directions – a question burned on her lips and she couldn't help but ask it. "So, Malfoy, why did you decline?"
He was silent. "I don't know. We make a good team, the three of us."
She couldn't stop a grin from forming on her face. "I suppose we do."
"Wow, this is so emotional." Blaise said sarcastically, "It's so overwhelming that all our feelings are out in the open."
"Oh, piss off." Draco said crossly.
"You're just mad because I pointed out your social awkwardness in the face of emotional speaking." Blaise said smugly and Hermione snickered. Draco glared at her, but she shrugged and laughed, which made him smile.
"Hopeless imbeciles." Blaise muttered under his breath.
-
-
It was 3:11 that afternoon when Hermione got the call. She hadn't known what to expect when the ring filled the car and the puzzled expression on her team mates' faces were enough to ensure her that they felt the same. She answered it with hesitation, hoping it wasn't Sheila and James, announcing another surprise.
But, strangely enough, it wasn't. When Hermione later reflected on it, she would wish that it had been them, because of everyone, they at least had good excuses for deception.
"Hermione? It's Pansy."
"Pansy?" She asked in surprise. The two males looked at her questioningly.
"Yeah, look, I really need to talk to you."
"To me?" She asked, and shrugged off their expressions. "Not one of the guys-"
"No!" She burst out. "Er, no. I need, a, er, girl talk."
"Girl talk?" Hermione asked dubiously.
"Look, I really need to talk to someone and you were the first person I thought of, because you're trustworthy." Pansy said, somewhat snappily. "I'm sorry if it's inconvenient, I'll try someone else."
"No, of course not!" She said, "I'm willing to listen, of course."
Silence.
"Really?"
"Of course." She replied, soothingly. "What is it you wanted to tell me?"
"Well, that's the thing. I don't want to say it in front of the boys, so I'm in a bathroom in a coffee shop. You know how the cameras can't go into bathrooms."
"Oh." Hermione was taken aback.
"Yeah…And I don't want anyone on your side to hear what I say either. It's really, really personal and important to me. I was wondering if you would pull over, too, and then we'd be even. Neither of us would be driving anywhere and we'd still have this talk."
It took her two seconds to reply. "Sure, of course. I'll call you back in a few minutes."
"OK."
"Bye, Pansy."
"Wait!"
"Yeah?" She asked, frowning in confusion.
"Never mind."
"OK," she said, closing the phone.
It took about twenty minutes to convince Blaise and Draco to pull over, and how important it was. When she finally resorted to asking if they thought Pansy was lying, there had been a long pause. Finally, she'd said, 'look, this is important. I need to talk to Pansy.' Draco had turned wordlessly into a parking lot.
She'd called Pansy as soon as she locked the door to the cubicle. It rang once. "Hermione?"
"Yes, its me." She replied, laying out two layers of toilet paper on the seat of the toilet and then sitting on it, grimacing.
"Oh." There was a silence, and Hermione could almost hear Pansy opening and closing her mouth. "I didn't think you would."
"You asked me to." She pointed out.
"I know."
There was another silence and Hermione became worried. "Pansy, is something the matter? Is it serious? You can tell me."
"My parents are divorcing." Pansy said suddenly, and then her words became nearly too slurred for her to understand. "Well, not really but they might as well."
"Pansy, wait. Slow down, I can barely understand. Take a deep breath." Hermione enunciated slowly. "Start again."
"My parents have a really bad relationship." Pansy said quietly, and then continued for quite a long time. It started with Pansy's parents. They seemed to have become completely estranged and couldn't stay in the same room with the other without fighting. More often than not, Pansy had confided tearfully to her, the fighting was about Pansy, while she was in the same room. She feared that her mother was involved in an affair, and didn't want to have to choose between the two of them.
She continued on to how insecure she felt about Riley, and how she felt for him but was sure he didn't feel for her, and how difficult it would be to have a relationship when he lived so far away and was home schooled. Her dread that her friendships with Draco and, to Hermione's surprise, Blaise were deteriorating and that her life was really not turning out the way she'd been hoping and expecting.
Hermione listened in silence, except for occasionally saying soothing and encouraging things. Finally, Pansy stopped talking. "Is that all?" The Gryffindor asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah. Are you still in the bathroom?"
"Yes," she replied, smiling and feeling the wonderful glow of a new friendship inside her. "You know, I'm really glad that you felt like you could trust me with that. If you ever need to talk, let me know. Maybe when we get back to the house, we can talk in person?"
"Yeah, OK. Look, I have to go." Pansy said quickly and then the line went dead. Hermione stared at her phone in complete confusion. That was so…abrupt. She waited a minute or so to see if the Slytherin would call her back, but she didn't and with a frown she left the bathroom.
"About time!" Draco exclaimed the second she'd emerged. "You've been in there for nearly two hours!"
"Sorry." She said, "It was important."
"We need to hurry." Blaise exclaimed, tugging on Draco's arm and hurrying outside. "We've lost travel time, so we'll arrive at the house later than we were going to..."
She followed them and was walking to the driver's seat when Blaise intercepted her. "I'm driving."
"Is this about the whole police thing?" She asked, still struggling to figure out why Pansy had talked to her for so long and then hung up abruptly, unless she'd been embarrassed?
"No, I just like driving. It helps me think."
She conceded, opening the door to the back and trying to slip her phone into her pocket. Unfortunately she missed and, after closing the door behind her, looked under the seat for it. She was surprised to notice the outline of her cell phone and something round. It was a WCube. One of them must have not realized they'd brought it and dropped it.
She pulled it out and, with a speculative look at Draco and Blaise, hurried into the Confession Box, before turning it on impatiently. It didn't take her long to find the twenty four hour channel, which had apparently been one of the added bonuses of being on the show, because she knew that viewers had to buy a subscription to it.
When she saw what was happening on the screen, her blood ran cold.
"Drive!" She yelled, pushing the door open and dashing into the main part of their vehicle. "Oh my God, quick!"
"Granger?" Draco looked alarmed. "Are you OK?"
"No!" She gasped, "No, Pansy was lying! They hadn't stopped, they'd been driving the entire time! We're going to lose!"
-
-
Hermione sat in the front beside Draco, completely silent. She'd driven for a few hours and then Draco had taken over for several more, but she still didn't recognize anything they passed. It was completely her fault. She'd been so naïve and foolish, how could she possibly think that Pansy had just wanted to talk to her? Everything she'd said had been a lie, and she'd eaten it all up.
They'd barely spoken after Blaise had freaked out and then assured her that she wasn't to blame, but she couldn't help but feel that they were accusing her of sabotaging them, even if they were silent. After all, it had been their pick of who the team would bring on the show if they won, it had been obvious that they wouldn't agree to someone she suggested, and she hadn't minded too much, because she knew that if the other team won they'd bring on Ginny, so it had been even.
"It's not your fault." Draco said suddenly. "It's not like you would have known she was going to stab you in the back."
She was at a loss for words and turned to look at him. Instead of replying to his statement, she opened her mouth to say something about how she liked being around him, however their GPS interrupted before she could say anything.
'Turn right at the next driveway, you have reached your destination.' They all stiffened and her heart began to beat frantically. Draco turned up a driveway. It was lined with pretty trees, blooming with pink blossoms and the grass was a luscious green. It turned ever so slightly at the end, hiding their new house from view. They turned the corner and, before she noticed anything else, she saw that the driveway was empty. Hope filled her, but of course they wouldn't just display that The Pansy Pickers had won.
The house itself was quite a bit smaller, though much longer, which was probably to accommodate the division of their teams. It looked much more approachable and cosy than the other one had, though. The walls were a light brick with a black shingled roof and it had only two floors. A beautiful garden drew attention to a purple door, and at the front, facing the yard was a porch made of white stucco. She admired it, however her thoughts were elsewhere.
They came to a stop.
"I guess this marks the end of the road trip." Draco said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, yeah, but we don't have much time for this." Blaise said quickly, opening the door. "If there's a chance we could win, do you want to spoil it with the fact that we had no idea there were two driveways?"
That had them moving pretty fast, however they were intercepted by Sheila and James. "Hello, Bloody Fuckers! We're glad to see you made it back." James smiled indulgently at them. "We've got a special room set aside for you, and your belongings will be brought in later. Grab anything important from your car, you've now been recorded as arrived so it doesn't matter if you aren't in the house immediately."
She brought her purse with her and saw the two males grab duffle bags, before they were led into the house. The air conditioning was a nice relief and it felt strange to be somewhere she knew she would be for awhile, as opposed to the motels they'd stopped in.
They were left in a small sitting room, completely devoid of colour, and they waited, the minutes ticking by. She pulled out a book, but was completely unsatisfied with its lack of comfort and distraction. With each passing minute she wondered if maybe they were actually waiting for the other group, and not just spending the time so neither team felt confident.
"Is this anticipation killing you?" Draco asked her and she looked up, laughing and nodding.
"Yeah. I'm really looking forward to yelling at Pansy." She said, crossing her arms. They both eyed her speculatively. "I'm really annoyed. It's a good thing Harry and Ron didn't know…but then, I doubt they would do that."
"This show brought out the worst in you, Granger." Draco said, smirking.
"Fortunately," she said, "There was nothing 'worst' left in you to bring out."
He snickered. "Girls love it."
"Keep on telling yourself that." She said, shaking her head in mock exasperation.
"Oh, I will-"
"Bloody Fuckers, we're ready for you." Sheila popped her head in. "Follow me…"
They continued through a kitchen – Hermione hardly had time to look around – and found themselves in a sitting room. The Pansy Pickers entered from the other side. When Hermione saw Pansy she glared outright, and the other girl seemed to realize that Hermione knew.
She sat down beside Draco and turned away from that team. Harry and Ron seemed confused by the chilly greeting and kept trying to meet her eyes, until she smiled slightly at them in reassurance and then turned back away.
"Welcome to the new House of Hell!" James said, as he and Sheila stood, facing them. "We have a lot of things that need discussing."
"However," Sheila said, "I'm sure what you'd really like to know is who won the competition, right?"
"Yeah," they said or nodded in response.
"Well, we decided to add some dramatic flair into the prize!" James said, unsurprisingly, beaming. "In true HOH fashion, we don't believe in waiting! So, someone is just outside this room, ready to walk through and join one of these teams."
"The person who walks through that door signifies the winning team." His pretty wife said, and let it sink in. "Are you ready to find out the winner and the person who'll share the House of Hell with you?"
"Yes." She said out loud and there was a bit of nervous laughter as they collectively leaned in.
"Alright, we're ready!"
It seemed as if everything was in slow motion. The door knob turned slowly and then clicked as the door opened quickly and bounced off the wall. The only thing keeping it from closing again was the person coming through.
"Honey, I'm home!"
Author's Note: Hm, so the next chapter, I've decided, is the interlude chapter, with the reactions of different people…But don't worry, its almost completely done. XD. I sort of multi tasked between this chapter and that one, because it helped focus my energy.
You have one last chance to go vote in the poll on my profile about who's coming on before you find out! The results have actually REALLY surprised me, but you'll realize why later…
Review review review!