I can't believe it.
This story has the most reviews, and I practically abandoned it for weeks? Unacceptable, I'm telling you!
So, so, so sorry! I'm going on vacation tomorrow, and I'm really excited but really stressed out, so it's a short chapter.
I promise the next one will be stunningly long! It's just that the homework overload is practically killing time.
…I'm back from vacation. I'm really sorry! Still…Here it is… (No, not the disclaimer!)
Disclaimer: Methinks thou art a pea brain.
Chapter Seven. Seas and Their Surprises.
The next morning Hermione woke up in a great mood. She had a delicious dinner last night during a beautiful sunset across from a boy she was quickly getting used to.
And, she liked it.
Oh! She was going swimming in that clear sea today! It truly was beautiful, a turquoise and green color, so clear you could see the occasional starfish and the tiny, tropical fish in the water.
It was exotic and simply gorgeous. The sun had warmed the water, so it warmed up slightly from the colder night, but was still cool and comfortable.
Hermione changed into her green bikini and walked into the water, basking in the sun and the exquisite cold of the water.
"Green suits you," a comforting voice said from behind her.
Hermione jumped. "Draco!" she scolded. "What are you doing?"
"Surprising you." He shrugged.
"Not funny," Hermione scolded.
"This is boring," Draco whined. "I'd rather go home!"
"This? This is beautiful!" Hermione cried in disbelief. "Oh, I forgot!" She dramatically clutched at her heart and gasped. "Little wee Malfoy comes here every summer! Oh, nothing is great for him, oh yes!" she said nasally.
"Hey!" he scowled.
"You do, don't you?"
"What?"
"Come here every summer."
"Well…yes."
"What's too great for you?"
"Owning the universe."
"…"
"What?"
"Why, I thought O Great Malfoy would reply, 'Oh, I'm sure we would in…say, maybe two years' time?'"
"Good idea! That might be true! Oh, I sure we would in…say, maybe a year's time?"
"Arrogant prick."
"Look who's talking!"
"Albino ferret with no manners!"
"Bushy haired beaver with no social life!"
"Ugly, arrogant, despicable bastard with fourteen thousand threats to hell!"
"Terrible bookworm with a future of a devilish angel!"
"…Really, Malfoy?"
"Ouch."
"ARGH!" Hermione shrieked as she toppled into the waters.
"Ha," Draco snickered. "Wet! All wet!"
"You're talking like a child," Hermione retorted, rising up.
"Is your hair bushier when it's wet?" he asked snidely.
"Common sense, Malfoy," she replied, sinking back down into the water so her hair floated around her head.
"Wow."
"Oho! Was that a compliment?"
"What?"
"You said wow."
"Yeah! So?"
"That's a compliment! I received a compliment from Mr. Stuck Up Guy today!"
"Don't get a big head."
"Oh, you say. By the way…"
"Get on with it."
"What's with the sudden change of attitude?"
Draco froze.
"Who started calling me Malfoy?" he shot back weakly.
"You're hiding something."
"No! I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
"Malfoys do not let people know!"
"They do when it's me," Hermione replied cheekily.
"I like my secrecy," Draco complained.
"Why?"
"It's more mysterious."
"And?"
"It's cooler! What's the point of having everyone know everything about you?"
"You're changing the topic. Tell me! What happened?"
"Nothing," he replied defensively.
"Something did!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"YES!"
"NO!"
"Oh, shut up," Hermione muttered.
"A Malfoy always wins," Draco began with the trademark smirk.
"…Before I hex you," Hermione replied with the same smirk.
"Ah!" Draco shrieked.
"What? Spider? Spider?" Hermione asked frantically.
"We're in the water, pea-brain."
"There are water spiders, you rice grain brain. They're big and have stringy legs and…"
"Gah! No! I hate spiders! I'm going! Now!" Draco yelled in horror.
"No, what were you screaming at first?"
"Well…" he began.
"Well?" Hermione asked impatiently.
"Patience, un-patient person!"
"That was lame."
"Thank you."
"…STOP GOING OFF SUBJECT!"
"Touchy, touchy, are we?"
"Wait…"
"Yeah?"
"WE'VE GONE off TWO SUBJECTS!" Hermione roared, not looking very happy.
"Err," Draco cowered, as Hermione was holding her wand and looked very intimidating indeed, "I, ah, think that, err, perhaps, maybe, I see…"
Draco saw a rainbow colored, shining fish darting around in the water, and grabbed a cupped leaf. He scooped up the fish and presented it to Hermione with shaking arms.
"Yeah, here! Here!" he yelled.
"Uh?" she asked intelligently, cocking her head to one side.
"Ooh, smart, Hermione!" Draco snorted.
"Oh, did you just insult…" Hermione snarled, eyes flashing again.
"Ah! Nope! Never did such a thing!" he yelped.
"Forget it," Hermione sighed, tucking her wand…wait.
"Where did you put your wand?" Draco asked suspiciously.
"Err, about that…" Hermione fidgeted. "Kind of like…nowhere?"
"You were never any good at lying, Hermione," Draco grinned, and then his eyes widened. "You mean—really nowhere?"
"Yup," she answered, nodding her head.
"Tell me! How? Tell me! How? TELL ME! HOW?" Draco asked desperately.
"Hey, stop freaking out…" Hermione soothed.
"SO TELL ME!"
"…Because I'm never going to tell you," she finished, smiling evilly. Hermione splashed up back to the beach and headed down to the chateau.
"Oh evil, evil woman…" Draco groaned.
Back at the chateau and over a dinner of lobster spaghetti, the conversation had turned to what had been bothering Hermione in the first place.
"What is wrong? What made you change your attitude?" Hermione asked quickly.
"I'm not telling you, so stop trying," Draco replied sulkily, stuffing spaghetti into his mouth.
"But…" Hermione began.
"No."
"Something happened last night," Hermione ignored Draco, "and it's clearly shaken you a lot. I need to know what happened! Did you know that keeping to many secrets affects your health?"
"You made that one up," Draco accused.
"I didn't!" Hermione defended. "It's true!"
"I'm sure," Draco snorted.
"It must've been a visitor on Floo!" Hermione snapped her fingers.
Draco staggered. "How did you know?" he asked weakly.
"I'm the all-knowing goddess," Hermione rolled her eyes. "No. I didn't. I simply waited for your reaction."
Draco face-palmed.
"So…who was it?" Hermione asked.
"You might as well know," Draco groaned. "Mother's going to kill me!"
"Tell." Hermione took out her wand.
"Ah, the violent tendencies of the female gender," Draco groaned again.
"Do you even know what 'violent' is?" Hermione asked. "You don't even know what 'mean' is."
"Of course I do! With parents like mine and all…" Draco waved his arms in a wind milling motion.
"You didn't have to go to the same elementary school as I did," Hermione scowled. "My parents are awesome, but my classmates weren't. My school was basically a school of bullies, even meaner that you are. Coming to Hogwarts was such and improvement, and I learned to appreciate what I have! All you do is take everything for granted. One day something bad will happen and no one will want to help you!"
"Everyone does," Draco waved a hand.
They finished dinner.
"So who was it?" Hermione asked.
"Crabbe Senior."
"You told me!"
"I was going to. I just enjoyed getting you riled up."
Hermione smacked the back of his head. "Horrible person."
"Crabbe Senior, anyway…he told me my father had been imprisoned by the Dark Lord," Draco paused, "because the Lord thought my father is a traitor."
Hermione gasped.
"Yeah, about how my father is the most loyal Death Eater? He really isn't. Before this, I used to have an older sister named Anna Marie. She was really beautiful, but when the Dark Lord rose and I was three and she was seven, my guess is the Dark Lord Imperiused my father," Draco explained.
Hermione had tears in her eyes. "You mean…she's dead?" she asked.
"No. I think the Dark Lord took her somewhere else to…strengthen her powers, or some sort. The Dark Lord probably Imperiused my father because he's powerful in the Ministry and rich."
"How do you know you father has been Imperiused?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know why I'm saying this," Draco sighed, "but before the Dark Lord rose, my father was not prejudiced against muggle born witches and wizards. Life was really great and he would play with us all the time, and my mother was happy. Later he became cold and distant and looked down on everyone around him."
Hermione put a hand on his shoulder.
"I know how you feel," she said softly.
"You don't," Draco said, looking away. "You can't."
"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do, Draco Malfoy!" Hermione scolded. "I know, because when I went to school, my mother and father always had the impression it was a great school. When I went on the first day everyone was nice, so I came home happy. In the following weeks, however, I was teased more and more and eventually bullied by a girl named Abigail. I couldn't tell my parents about what was happening at school, and sometimes I went without lunch when Abigail took my lunch money to buy herself something extra."
"That's not that horrible," Draco frowned.
"Wait," Hermione said gently. "The worst thing was when the teacher didn't care. She simply texted on her phone and went on the computer. She wouldn't stop anyone. I learned to hold my head high and walk around pretending I didn't care about anything that happened, and pretend to have a hard outer shell. Inside I would be crying while I put on a blank face and glared. I worked hard to learn to become a teacher's pet so that they would help if they saw me getting bullied. Somehow it seemed as if I was the only one getting bullied in the entire class. They were all bullies that grouped together, leaving me out."
"It's all an image, isn't it?" Draco concluded softly.
Hermione nodded. "Not a single person in the entire elementary school knew what I actually was like, and what I pretended to be soon became what I thought myself to be. My real self is somewhere buried under this know-it-all act."
"So you do understand," Draco sighed. "You do."
There was a whispering sound and a streak of silver swirled down from the sky, solidifying into Harry's patronus stag.
"HERMIONE," Harry's voice sounded urgent, "THE ORDER HAS FOUND YOUR HOUSE EMPTY. THE DARK MARK HAS BEEN SET UP OVER YOUR HOUSE—" Hermione gasped and began to tear up, "THOUGH THERE IS NO SIGN OF ANY BODIES. YOUR PARENTS AND MALFOY'S MUM" Draco paled "HAS PROBABLY BEEN KIDNAPPED. COME TO THE HEADQUARTERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE." The stag dissolved.
Hermione was crying.
Draco was white but said, "Where are the Order headquarters?"
Hermione dragged him to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo powder. Shakily whispering "Thirteen Grimmauld Place," she grabbed Draco's arm and stepped into the green fire.