Hey guys! I got a song suggestion *goes and does a weird celebratory dance* and it is Settle Down by The 1975 and it was recommended by Malibu Baybreeze. Please give in your song suggestions. I got some really nice reviews so here are my responses;
Malibu Baybreeze: Thank you for being my first official reviewer on this story, your feedback means a lot.
Lakelady8425: You liked Draco's speech?! Thank you because it took me, like, FOREVER!
Cherryberry8: The best AU you've ever read… I think I just cried a bit;) Thank you so much and I shall try to live up to your description of me!
We are back to Hermione's POV and I quite like this chapter, actually. We get some more action on Hermione's mission! Please review and on with the story! I forgot to do a disclaimer last chapter so can I just say for the entire duration of this story from beginning to end I own nothing except the plot.
The next day found Hermione looking in the library for a book on French vocab that she had found particularly useful when she was learning French. She groaned as she sifted through the endless books; it evidently wasn't there. She would have to ask Lucius if she could order it and have it delivered to the house.
Sighing, she decided to get it over and done with; she needed that book as soon as possible. She knew one of the rules was not to disturb Lucius whilst he was in his study; but it was still quite early and if she was quick she might be able to catch him coming out of breakfast.
On the way to the breakfast hall, she thought about Draco. About how he thought she looked nice last night, about how he himself looked too gorgeous for words, about how she could not let her feelings get in the way. It had only been a couple of days but she kept finding herself pulling her walls down temporarily when he was around. Keeping them up was getting exhausting.
Hermione frowned; she didn't even know why she was attracted to Draco. Sure he was funny, but it was in a sarcastic way. He was nice, but in a backward way. He was also cocky, arrogant and a complete arse at times. But Hermione knew that that wasn't what he was really like. He had carefully constructed a mask of ice and he had hidden behind it. For some reason, Hermione really wanted to melt it. She wanted to see the real Draco.
But she couldn't. She would end up breaking his heart and hers in the process.
She was so deep in thought she didn't notice Lucius walking towards her. She broke out of her reverie when he sneered at her and spoke, "Hermione, I trust you are well?"
She nodded, "Yes, thank you, Mister Malfoy. Oh, Mister Malfoy? Can I ask you something, two things actually?"
He sighed, "You can ask, Miss Rivers. Walk with me to my office."
"Okay, the first thing is that your library is lacking a particular book that I would find very helpful in the education of your son. I was wondering if it would be okay if I ordered it online and had it delivered here."
He nodded, "I can do one better than that, Miss Rivers. There is a small town with an excellent bookshop quite nearby. You could ask Draco to take you there on horseback or something and see if the shop has the books you are after. It would be helpful, though, if before you went you made a list of all the books you think you will need in the future. I shall provide the funding for any purchases made for Draco's lessons"
Hermione smiled brightly at him, a bookshop nearby! "Yes, that would be lovely, thank you so much! The other thing is that my best friend, Ginny, just broke up with her boyfriend Harry and is in need of a bit of TLC. Would it be okay if she came and stayed for a couple of days?"
Lucius shrugged "Yes if she must, as long as there are no boys and it doesn't interfere with Draco's lessons. I'll have a room prepared for her next to yours."
"Oh, that won't be necessary; she can stay in my room." Hermione said, earning herself a strange look from Lucius.
"As you wish, Hermione. Go find Draco and tell him of your trip to the town. You may do it today in lesson time."
She nodded as they reached his office, and he gestured to the same chair she had sat in during her interview. "Wait here, I just need to get something for you."
She nodded, curious as to what he was fetching for her. As he left, Hermione inspected his office. She suddenly realised she was alone in his office.
She listened for footsteps, but heard nothing. She scuttled around to the other side of his desk and tried opening some draws, but they were all locked. She looked on the desk for a key but she couldn't find one.
There were the usual things; laptop, pens, old cups of coffee and a stack of papers. Sifting through it, she only saw a load of bank statements and furniture purchases. One small square of paper floated down to her feet, and she picked it up and read it.
25th December, 8
She frowned, and mentally catalogued the information for a later musing session. She then turned to the computer. She wouldn't have time to try and hack the password, but there could be vital information. This is where Ron would come in.
Pressing a button on the side of her spy-watch she spoke quietly. "Ron, I need a way to get all the information from a laptop without leaving a trace, preferably in twenty seconds."
The watch crackled slightly before she heard Ron's voice, "In your purse there should be a small chocolate bar. Unwrap it and you should find a USB stick. Stick that into the port and press the red button on the side. Wait until the green bar on the side is fully loaded before taking it out or it won't work and traces will be left there."
Hermione did as he said, putting the small black memory stick into the side of the computer and pressing the red button. As Ron had said, the green bar on the side started filling up, when she heard the brisk footsteps of Lucius Malfoy walking towards the office. The memory stick hadn't finished yet; Hermione didn't know what to do.
"I apologise for that, Hermione, I just needed to fetch this from my wife's office."
Hermione smiled brightly at him from her seat, clutching the finished USB stick in her palm. "That's no problem, sir."
Lucius handed her two envelopes. "Okay, this first one is your pay check for the month and this one is your funds for any equipment you may need. If it runs out, you shall be paying out of your own money."
Hermione nodded opening the envelope, gasping as she did. She highly doubted she would run out of three hundred pounds. She had a similar reaction upon opening her pay check for the month, two thousand pounds would certainly last her until next month.
"Thank you so much, sir, but is this much really necessary?" she asked him, incredulous.
Again, he looked at her like she was crazy, "This is how much I pay my regular staff, Hermione."
She nodded, remembering that he had more money than most third world countries. "Alright, thank you sir. May I go now?"
He waved a dismissive hand at her without looking up from some paperwork. "And Hermione, if this Ginny turns out to be a boy, you will be fired on the spot."
She raised an eyebrow, "Okay, sir, but last time I checked Ginny was female." She said as she walked out, shaking her head.
He really was paranoid, Hermione thought. She couldn't understand why he was so vehemently against any boys coming.
As she walked back to her room, she called Ginny. She picked up on the second ring.
"Hermione! What did he say?" Ginny immediately accosted her.
"Chill out, Ginny. He said yes, you can come as long as you aren't a boy."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry. Listen, I'm going shopping with Draco later, do you need anything?"
Hermione practically heard Ginny smirk, "So you're shopping with him already?"
She groaned, "Shut up, Ginny, we're getting supplies for his lessons. Do you need anything?"
"Are there going to be any smart occasions?"
"Yes, every Wednesday and Sunday night."
"In that case, I need a new blue maxi dress to go with my navy heels and some new brown heels to go with my spring green dress. I have some specific ones in mind, Ill text you some photos. You know my size, but they're a bit expensive."
"Don't worry, Lucius just gave me my pay check and it's like two thousand pounds."
"Bloody hell, Hermione! And that's just your monthly pay check! Well, you're definitely paying you lucky bitch!"
Hermione chuckled, "Yeah, alright. Text me the pictures."
"Will do, if Draco is really hot I want to dress to impress!"
"I already told you, he isn't your type. His friend Blaise, however…"
Ginny gasped loudly, "Tell all! Is he hot?"
"He's Italian; really nice, funny, about six foot four, well-built but lean, curly black hair with the face of a Greek god."
"Jesus Christ, what is it with rich people being so hot? You steer clear of him, understand? I call dibs!"
Hermione laughed out loud, "That is so you, Ginerva! Don't worry, he's all yours. He's more big-brother material for me."
"Fair enough, it sounds like that Draco guy is more your type. Speaking off, I'm texting over a couple of outfit pictures that you are buying for yourself; that pink skater dress is nice but it won't do every time. You need some more pizzazz in your wardrobe, make Draco drool."
Hermione shook her head, "You do realise he already has a girlfriend?"
Ginny groaned, "Typical, have you met her?"
"Yes."
"And? What's she like?"
"Um, well, she's…"
"For heaven's sake Hermione," Ginny scolded, "no one's going to hear you, just speak your mind!"
"Fine," Hermione huffed, "she's a heinous bitch who's plotting with Blaise to publicly embarrass me because she thinks I'm a threat."
"Bloody hell, I wasn't expecting that! I thought you said Blaise was nice?"
"He is, he did it to break up Pansy and Draco without upsetting Lucius, who chose Pansy for him. He won't actually let anything happen to me."
"Wow, I mean, just wow. Your life is actually interesting for once!"
"Shut up, Gin!"
"No, seriously," Ginny said, "it is so romantic! A boy, fated to love you, who is held back by his cruel father and made to date a hideous crone. His best friend working on the inside to get the two star-crossed lovers together; falling in love with the girl's gorgeous best friend in the process!" She sighed dramatically.
Hermione could only shake her head at her best friend, "That is a load of rubbish, Ginny!"
"Not really," defended Ginny, "at least the part about the two gorgeous best friends isn't."
Hermione laughed, "I've got to go, catch you later."
"Bye Hermione, I'm texting the pictures over now."
Hermione hung up and scrolled through the various items of clothing. She noticed she had a text from Ron.
How are you doing?
She knew it was code for whether or not she succeeded, so she texted back,
Great, thanks. Everything is going well
She shut the phone off and went to go and find Draco.
"That white on is the one you'll be riding, she's a very friendly mare called Kohinoor, Koko for short." Draco said, leading her towards a beautiful snowy white mare who snorted and rubbed her head against Draco's arm.
"Hold your hand out like this," demonstrated Draco, "let the horse sniff your hands so it trusts you."
Hermione did as he said and gently held her hand palm-up for Koko to sniff. When the horse pushed its head into her hands and snorted, she giggled and caressed its long neck.
"Blaise," called Draco over his shoulder, "would you get Vlad ready for me? I'm going to teach Hermione how to ride a horse."
Draco then led Koko over to the mounting block and gestured for Hermione to climb up.
"Okay, so, what you do is get a firm hold of the front of the saddle, swing one leg over the horse's back and make sure you do it gently. Once you're on, put your feet in the stirrups."
Hermione nodded and gracefully mounted the horse, shifting slightly to get in a more comfortable position. Draco smiled up at her. "You're a natural. To control the horse squeeze your feet slightly to get it moving, and then pull gently on the reins to stop. To turn left, pull the left rein gently and the same with the right. If you want to go into a trot, squeeze tightly and click your tongue. Practice for a bit around the paddock."
Hermione did and found that Koko was a very obedient and intelligent horse. She could sense they would be the best of friends.
Slowing down in front of Draco, she smiled at him, "Thanks, Draco. This is really fun! What's your horse like?"
Draco laughed and pointed to where Blaise was leading two massive stallions. One was white with brown patches and the other was a very dark brown, almost black, with white socks and a white star on it forehead.
Taking the reins of the dark brown horse, Draco mounted it with practiced ease.
"This is Vladimir, so named because of his grumpy disposition." He said.
Hermione laughed, "He does look like he wants to trample a bunny!"
"Don't go near him without me, Blaise or the stable-hand with you. He's not… nice to strangers. However, he is the fastest horse we have and very loyal to those he considers his friends."
"Aww, he's just a big softy!" Hermione cooed, giggling at the horse's expression.
"Oi, Malfoy! Are we taking your hell-hounds with us?" Blaise yelled from the other end of the paddock, where he had mounted the brown and white horse.
"No," Draco yelled back, "they can't go near Oberon, they really hate him for some reason."
"Oberon?" Hermione asked, "As in the King of the Fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream?"
"You know, you might be the first person who has picked up on that. Yes, it's Blaise's horse whilst he's here. Called Oberon because he likes to think he's the boss, but actually even Koko here could boss him around, all his power plans backfire."
"I take it Koko isn't a particularly high-ranking horse?" asked Hermione wryly.
Draco shrugged, "She's a pedigree horse bred for show, but we bought her to add to our collection. She's named after the largest diamond in the world, so she is obviously very valuable. All of our horses excel at something. For instance; Vlad's fast, Koko's beautiful and Oberon is strong."
"Why did you choose Koko for me?" Hermione asked, genuinely curious.
Draco seemed to think for a minute before answering, "She's intelligent, kind and beautiful. Just like you." He smirked at her and galloped out of the paddock, whistling for the dogs to follow him.
Hermione shook her head and saw Blaise trot up to her from on top of Oberon.
"Hitting on you by comparing you to a horse. That's bad even for Draco." He said, mock-seriously.
Hermione laughed, "Well she is a very nice horse. At least he didn't compare me to Vlad, if he had done that then I wouldn't have been amused."
Blaise chuckled lightly and kicked his horse into a walk. "Come on; let's go catch up with Mr Smooth." Hermione grinned and followed him out onto the fields, where Draco was strutting arrogantly from the back of Vlad.
"Hurry up, you two!" he yelled, smirking at them. "You're slower than my grandmother; my dead grandmother!"
"I'll show you slow, you git!" Blaise muttered darkly before kicking his horse into a gallop towards Draco. Draco grinned and flew off, both of them disappearing over the hill.
Hermione sighed; even on horseback they couldn't be mature. She shook her head in exasperation.
"Come on you two," she said to the dogs, "let's see if we can catch up."
She kicked Koko into a trot, following the path. She went over the small hill and saw Draco and Blaise chasing each other in circles. She went into a canter and followed the dusty path up to where Draco and Blaise would be able to hear her.
"Cut it out, guys. One of you is going to end up getting killed. And anyway, you're ruining that farmer's crops!"
"My Father owns the field and the farmer is a nice guy called Terry." Draco yelled back at her.
"Not the point, Draco!" She shouted. She was too busy glaring at him to notice a white and brown blur speeding towards the hedge. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Oberon leapt over the five-foot hedge and cleanly landed in front of her.
"Blaise! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Don't do that again; it's dangerous!" she said, trying to get her heart rate back under control.
"Come on, Hermione, that jump is barely-" he was interrupted by Vladimir leaping over the hedge and skidding to a halt in front of him.
"Barely anything." Blaise finished, glaring at Draco who just smirked back. "Oberon's cleared six foot jumps before." He bragged, stroking the horse's neck.
"Yet he still hasn't beaten me in a race!" Draco said, sitting all too mightily on top off Vladimir.
Hermione huffed, "Can you two please just go one afternoon without making everything into a stupid competition?" she asked tiredly, already knowing the answer.
As expected, they both grinned and Blaise said "Not a chance!" as Draco said "Not bloody likely!" They looked at each other, seemingly silently communicating. This wasn't the first time they had done that.
She shook her head at them, "You two could be brothers with your mannerisms and weird freaky psychic connection!"
Kicking his horse into a walk and motioning for them to do the same, Draco said "Well we practically are brothers. We've known each other from birth and have been best friends since then."
Hermione nodded, this was a fair point.
She looked happily over the quiet English countryside and revelled in the peace and quiet of the place. She could see the town about two miles from where they were; there were beautiful patchwork fields to the left and a large forest to the right. Birdsong filled the air, along with the scent of flowers, clear air and wind. The sky was a beautiful azure blue with fluffy white clouds lazing along the horizon. All in all, it was a very beautiful place.
She was broken out of her reverie by Draco, "So, what shops do you need or wish to visit?"
Hermione thought for a moment, "The book-shop, obviously, but also a stationary shop and some clothes shops."
"Clothes shops?" asked Blaise, sounding surprised, "I didn't take you for a clothes shopaholic."
Hermione grimaced and shook her head, "I'm not; but my friend Ginny is. She's coming to stay for a week or so and she asked me to buy her some new clothes. Problem is; she threatened that if I didn't buy the clothes she's picked out for me then she would send me racy underwear on a daily basis."
Both Draco and Blaise guffawed, highly amused by Hermione's unimpressed expression.
"Why is that so bad? Any guy would love to have racy underwear sent to them on a daily basis!" Blaise asked between chuckles.
Hermione sighed melodramatically, "For a mature boy, Blaise, you do have random spurts of immaturity."
"Hermione has a bad relationship with sexy lingerie," Draco grinned slyly, "when she first got her she found her friend had snuck loads of thongs into her bag. Father's face when he saw them on the fire was hilarious!"
"Ginny just can't understand that I don't like underwear like that! It's uncomfortable, but she says beauty is pain." Hermione grumbled.
"So your friend does wear sexy panties, then?" Blaise asked, winking at Draco.
Hermione groaned, "I am not obliged to answer that and quite frankly talking about this with you two is making me uncomfortable!"
"Me too!" said Draco suggestively, smirking at Hermione who turned pink.
"Alright," said Blaise, "let's move on. What does Ginny look like?"
"She's tall, taller than me, lithe, with long read hair, freckles and bright brown eyes. Her personality is completely different to mine, almost the complete opposite. She grew up with six older brothers so she's rather… out-spoken."
Draco scoffed, "Out-spoken? That's a rather annoying trait."
Hermione frowned at him disapprovingly, "She's my best friend, Draco, be nice. As for being out-spoken, she wears it well because of her confidence."
"Well, as long as she's not loud or obnoxious."
Hermione chuckled, "No, she's more the silent, powerful type. Apart from the odd cheeky comment; she does have a mischievous streak."
Draco cocked his head to the side in thought, "She's sounding more and more like Blaise. Are you after a girlfriend, mate?"
Blaise, who had been silent up until then, chuckled ruefully, "While she does sound very nice, I'm rather picky. I'd have to see her."
Draco turned to Hermione with a mischievous grin, "The fact that he's even considering her speaks volumes. You better tell Ginny to buckle up!"
Hermione giggled at Blaise's withered expression and Draco smiled at her. The sight nearly made her melt.
He almost never smiled properly; he was always either grinning or smirking. But his pure, happy smile was quite possibly one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. It was far nicer than Ron's. Hermione realised that she was forgetting Ron a little bit more every time she saw Draco. Ron was handsome and quite clever, but he could never hope to match up with Draco's wit, intelligence and all-round gorgeousness.
She noticed that they had been staring into each other's eyes for a while now. His eyes were amazing; they changed colour depending on his mood. When he was angry or annoyed they were a glacial blue but when he was happy they turned into warm liquid silver, with the ability to make her swoon.
They were interrupted by Blaise coughing obnoxiously, causing Draco to roll his beautiful eyes and smirk at Hermione. She gave him a small smile in return.
"Um, guys?" Blaise asked, amusement woven thick throughout his voice, "We're nearly there."
Hermione turned and sure enough they were nearly at the entrance to the town. It was more of a large village, really. The houses were small and picturesque and the streets were cobbled unevenly. Plants were everywhere; adding colour and life to the whole place. It was like a scene out of a fairy-tale.
Hermione sighed, wishing she could live in such a beautiful, peaceful place where she could read all the time. It reminded her of the village from Beauty and the Beast, which ironically made her the beautiful book-worm. She didn't want to think about who the beast was.
They trotted to the centre of the town, where there was a circular fountain with a large enough rim to sit comfortably on. To the side there were some small stables. Draco and Blaise dismounted from their horses and Draco came round to Koko's side to help Hermione down. She noticed he kept his hands on her waist for a bit too long, but he could just have been being careful.
Blaise took the horses to the stables and paid the owner before coming back.
"Right," he said, grinning, "where to first?"
"Hermione, we've been here for two bloody hours! Have you found all your books yet?" Draco asked from where he was sprawled across a chair. Blaise hummed in agreement from his lying down position.
"You can never spend too long in a book shop, guys." She said, adding a book to her already enormous pile.
"Hurry up!" Draco complained, taking no heed to her scolding. She rolled her eyes but went to pay for the various books. When she finally approached them with three full bags they leapt up, eager to go somewhere else. Draco snatched the bags off of her and Blaise practically pushed her out of the door.
"I hope to see you again, Hermione!" the bookshop owner, a kind old man, called after them.
"Should we go to a clothes shop next?" Hermione asked, blinking innocently at the two boys. They both groaned, causing her to sigh.
"Where do you want to go, then?" she asked, exasperated.
"Home." Said Draco at the same time Blaise said "Sports shop." Hermione giggled at them both.
"We can't go home just yet, so you'll have to put up with a sports shop Draco. You go there, whilst I go clothes shopping. Where exactly is the shop?" she asked. They pointed her towards a rather large shop with mannequins on display.
"Thanks," she said, "see you later!"
"Don't go anywhere else!" called Draco, "Don't talk to strangers either! And if a boy hits on you, I will punch his lights out!"
Hermione rolled her eyes; it was as if he was her boyfriend. Apparently Blaise thought the same, because he dragged Draco in the opposite direction. "Come on now, she's a big grown up girl! She can take care of herself!"
Hermione giggled and entered the shop. Immediately she was greeted by a chirpy sales assistant.
"Hello, my name's Miranda," the young blond smiled, "can I help you at all?"
Hermione smiled gratefully at her, "Yes, thank you. I've been instructed by my friend to buy some very specific clothes, could you please help me find them?"
Miranda grinned, "Sure! If I could just see the pictures, please."
Hermione handed Miranda her phone, and after flicking through them all, Miranda nodded.
"Yes, I'm sure this can be managed. If you would like to follow me."
Over the next hour they gathered the various dresses, skirts and shoes. Some they were able to find an identical match, but failing that Hermione got the most similar thing. By the end she had also been convinced into buying a white sundress with a cherry print and a green jumper-dress with a picture of a deer on it.
As she paid, she smiled at Miranda, "Thank you so much for all your help; it would have been a much harder task on my own. I wonder if you could do me one more favour?"
Miranda nodded enthusiastically, "Sure! What do you need?"
"Well, I noticed a nice jewellery shop across the road, and I would quite like to browse in there for some matching accessories. The only thing is I promised to meet my two friends here, would you mind telling them where I am?"
Miranda nodded, "That's fine, what do they look like?"
"They're both boys, about six foot three; one with ash blond hair and the other is an Italian. They're called Blaise and Draco, and they are pretty hard to miss. You'll know them when you see them."
"Will do." Miranda chirped, and Hermione grinned gratefully at her. "Thank you so much, here is a tip for your help."
She handed her a twenty pound note and Miranda accepted it with wide eyes.
Hermione waved goodbye and left the shop to see what jewellery she could find.
The bell tinkled merrily as she entered, and she gasped as she looked around. All the jewellery was sparkling under the soft lighting, and it all looked lovely. It was also very expensive.
She decided to buy a pearl necklace with a blue bow to go with Ginny's dress and a silver chain for herself that looked very dainty around her wrist.
She eyed a beautiful golden heart locket encrusted with a single ruby with longing; but decided she had spent enough for one day. She was paying when she heard knocking on the window accompanied by wolf whistles and catcalls.
She turned to see four teenage boys eyeing her up, causing her to inwardly groan and roll her eyes. She hoped they would just go away; but no such luck. They entered the shop leering at her.
She thanked the shop owner and pushed past the boys out into the street, but they followed her. She really didn't want to cause a scene, but she feared she might have to put them in their place.
"Hey there, beautiful!" One called, coming a bit too close for comfort.
"Leave me alone, please." She asked politely but firmly. They ignored her.
"So, what's a pretty little thing like you doing buying jewellery for herself? Isn't that your boyfriend's job?"
Hermione sighed in exasperation, "I don't have a boyfriend. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have to meet up with some friends.
One grabbed her arm and smirked at her, "Why don't you hang out with us instead? We know a great park just a few minutes' walk away. We could have all sorts of fun…"
Hermione inwardly shuddered, deciding it was time to get them off of her. Twisting her arm suddenly and grabbing the boy's wrist she pinned it painfully behind his back. He yelped in surprise and pain, but she didn't let go.
"I said, please can you leave me alone. I need to meet up with someone!" she said more firmly, releasing his wrist.
She didn't see one of them grab her bags from the floor and run off with them until it was too late.
"Hey!" she cried angrily, "Those are mine, give them back!"
She started running after them into an alleyway, skidding to a halt when she saw one of the boys holding her bags, leaning on the wall smirking. She scowled and approached him.
Suddenly, her arms were pinned behind her back and she was shoved painfully into the wall. She realised that this was all planned.
"Shit." She muttered.
She relaxed her whole body to lull them into a false sense of security, and then swiftly kicked her leg backwards into the boy's groin. Spinning around she head-butted him and tripped him over onto the floor.
Soon two more of them were on her, and one managed to shove her backwards into the wall. Her head hit the bricks with a painful thud and a sharp pain in her left arm indicated it had been injured. She looked over and saw it had been cut on a nail jutting out from the wall.
Her head was spinning, but she kept on fighting. She shut of her mind and acted on impulse alone, managing to get three of them on the floor. The fourth was trickier; he was much bigger than her and with her injured head and arm she was not as fast as she normally was. She cursed; circumstance was not in her favour.
She managed to floor the fourth boy giving her just enough time to grab her bags and run.
She sprinted out of the alley as fast as she could, turning back to see if they were following her. She did not see the person in front of her and she collided into a hard chest. Stumbling back, she saw Draco's face etched with both worry and fury.
"Hermione," he breathed, "what the fuck happened?"
To answer her three of the four boys charged out of the alley, shouting at her. She squeaked an darted behind Draco for cover.
He read the situation immediately and stood with his arms crossed and his cool eyes burning holes in the four boys. They skidded to a halt in front of him, and he sneered menacingly at them.
"Gentlemen, I find myself perplexed. I had agreed to meet my friend, but she was nowhere to be found. I then find her running away from you lot, so I ask you, what the fuck did you do to her?" he snarled.
Two of the boys pushed the bigger boy forward, and he stumbled slightly. "We were just having a bit of fun. She was taking it way too seriously."
Draco nodded and inspected his nails casually. "Well, it's up to you. Either I beat the shit out of you, or you apologise and then I beat the shit out of you for slightly less time. Your choice."
The fourth boy hobbled out of the alleyway and joined the others. Obviously heartened by the extra back-up, the large boy sneered. "You don't scare me, Malfoy. Oh yeah, I know who you are!"
Draco rolled his eyes, "What an advantage. Unfortunately I don't have the displeasure of knowing your name. It will hardly matter when you're on the floor in indescribable pain."
"The name's Dudley Dursley. You seem to be quite confident that you'll be able to beat us in a fight, have you considered we might pummel you?"
Draco scoffed, "Hermione was surprised, cornered and injured and yet she still whipped your sorry arses. I doubt I would have much trouble."
"Hermione! There you are!" Blaise yelled as he ran up to where they were.
Draco grinned, "It will be very easy now that I have back-up. Why don't you tell Blaise why I'm threatening to dismember you?"
Blaise looked between Hermione, Draco and Dudley and understood immediately. He glared furiously at the boys.
Dudley threw his hands up in the air, "All we did was take her to the alley. She caused more damage to us than we did to her!"
Hermione saw red. She was willing to let Draco and Blaise beat up the boys in her weakened state, but she couldn't let that comment pass. She stepped out from behind Draco and glowered at the boys. "If I caused more damage to you, would you please explain why my arm is bleeding profusely and my head feels like there is a small herd of elephants in it?"
"But you-" started Dudley, but Hermione cut him off.
"Whatever I did was in self-defence! You attacked me and there is no excuse for that!"
She stalked up to the boy and poked him straight in the chest, "You will never come near me or any other girl again, do you understand?"
He scowled and made to grab her arm, but before he had the chance Hermione had been yanked back by Blaise and Draco had one hand around the boy's neck and the other restraining his arms.
"Hey! What's going on here, then?" A burly police officer approached the group with a scowl.
Draco pushed Dudley back and turned to address the police officer sweetly, "Well, you see, my friend Blaise and I had agreed to meet up with our friend Hermione. However we couldn't find her until she flew straight out of an alley with a bleeding arm, hurting head and scared half to death. She was swiftly followed by these four gentlemen, and I was just about to punch their lights out for attacking her."
The policeman looked to Hermione for confirmation, and when she nodded he turned and scowled at the four boys. "Whilst I'm tempted to let you, heaven knows they deserve it, I unfortunately can't. You four, follow me! Miss, would you like to press charges?"
Hermione shook her head, "I got some good kicks in and they didn't actually do anything, so no. But if they ever do anything like this again, just let me know and I will be happy to testify in court."
The officer nodded, "Alright, just let me know if you change your mind. Can you get home or would you like to go to hospital?"
Hermione smiled, "No, it's not as bad as it looks. Home's quite close and I would prefer to go there."
The officer frowned, "It would probably be wise to at least go to the doctors', just in case."
Draco put his arm around Hermione, "We have quite a good doctor on sight at home, thank you."
Recognition dawned on the officer's face, "Thought I recognised the hair. I will have to contact your father, young Master Malfoy."
Draco groaned, "If you must. Thank you for your help here, officer. I'll take Hermione home."
The officer nodded and smiled at them, "Happy to help. If you change your mind, miss, don't be afraid to let us know."
Hermione smiled at him, before walking off with Draco and Blaise.
"What were you even doing? I said meet us in the clothes shop!" Draco yelled accusingly at her, but she could tell he wasn't actually angry with her because his arm tightened around her.
"I was admiring a really nice necklace in the jewellery shop, actually!" she said.
Draco scowled and dragged her into the jewellery shop. "Show me which one."
She sighed and pointed to the lovely heart locket. Draco summoned over the shopkeeper and pointed to the necklace. "I'd like that one." He said in an irritated tone.
After he had paid, he thrust the cream box into her hands and scowled, "There, happy now? Hopefully now you won't try to get yourself killed!"
Hermione giggled and smiled brightly at him, "Thank you, Draco. I mean it, thanks. For the necklace and for defending me." She stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
He went slightly pink and pulled her out of the shop, "Alright, alright. Let's get you home." He grumbled, putting his arm around her back again and guiding her to the horses.
Hermione saw Blaise had already lead the horses out, and he grinned knowingly at her when he saw the cream box and Draco's surly expression marred by his slightly pink cheeks.
As Draco went to sort out the horses, Blaise walked up to Hermione, "It's his way of saying he's glad nothing bad, other than your arm, happened to you and he's sorry that he wasn't there to stop them in the first place."
Hermione smiled at him, "I can forgive him, I really like the necklace! Plus, it wasn't his fault. Thank you, by the way, for helping me."
Blaise grinned and ruffled her hair, "Any time, Hermione!"
"With your bad arm and head, I want you to ride with me." Draco ordered, riding up to them on top of Vlad. "Blaise, can you lift her up, please?"
Blaise nodded and gently lifted her by the waist onto Vlad, in front of Draco. Immediately he put one arm around her middle drawing her closer to his chest.
Under normal circumstances, she would have probably objected but she was starting to feel slightly light-headed from blood loss and her head was throbbing anyway. Sleep was looking very appealing to her. She snuggled back into Draco's chest, happy for the warmth.
"I thought Vlad was mean to strangers." She mumbled to Draco.
"Stay awake, Hermione. If you're with me, Vlad won't object."
Blaise secured the bags onto Koko's back and mounted Oberon, still holding on to Koko's reins.
"Let's go." Draco said, and Hermione nodded sleepily, still clutching the cream box. Soon they were cantering down the path back to the manor.
"Hermione, eyes open!" Draco ordered as he carried her bridal-style through the door. He set her on her feet and she complained lightly, rubbing her eyes.
"You couldn't manage to avoid conflict one time, Draco?" Lucius muttered walking into the hall.
"Hey! It wasn't my fault, Hermione was attacked!" Draco defended.
Lucius shook his head, "Yes I heard. Are you alright, Miss Rivers?"
Hermione nodded and mumbled incoherently. Lucius smirked at her, "I hope you are, because there is a red-headed ball of fury ready to avenge you!"
As he said this, Ginny flew into the hall, and as soon as she saw Hermione she barrelled straight into her trapping her tightly in her arms.
"Hermione! Thank goodness you're okay! I was so worried when Mr Malfoy said you had had an accident, I thought the worst! Please tell me you are fine!"
Hermione nodded, slightly annoyed at the disturbance, "I just want to go to sleep!" she complained.
Ginny shook her head, "No, no sleep for you yet! We need to clean up your arm and make sure you don't have a concussion! Mr Malfoy, do you have a doctor or something?"
Lucius rolled his eyes at Ginny's bossiness, but gestured for them to follow him. Draco picked up Hermione again and followed Lucius up the stairs accompanied by a fretting Ginny.
Soon enough Hermione's arm had been cleaned and she had been given medicine for her head. She was currently in a bed talking to Ginny.
"You were right when you said Draco was hot, he is gorgeous!" Ginny fanned herself, causing Hermione to laugh.
"I still haven't met Blaise, though." Frowned Ginny, "You said he would be more my taste, though I would happily change tastes for Draco! Talk about yummy!"
Hermione shook her head at her friend's antics, "I think Blaise was stabling the horses, you'll meet him soon enough."
Ginny nodded, "If he's anything like you described, then I am going to be one happy girl!"
Hermione giggled again, it was so good to have her friend with her. Ginny seemed to make the world shine just a bit brighter.
There was a knock on the door and after Hermione yelled for whoever it was to come in, Blaise entered smiling at Hermione.
His gaze quickly locked with Ginny, and Hermione could see the shock on his face. She knew Ginny was speechless as well, so she took the opportunity to introduce them.
"Ginny, this is Blaise. Blaise, Ginny." She said, smiling coyly. This would be fun.
Thank you for reading, please make my day and review;)
GoldieXx