Note: I figured its much easier to just put the "french" in italics. So, the italic-ated (is that even a word?) English portion is basically French.
Oh and thanks so much to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited.
Ruselly Adita: Thanks so much! This chapter is on the shorter side as I am on vacation (in India) so its a bit hard to write and sight see at the same time. However, I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review.
Some of you will notice that I have changed the summary of this fic. I feel like this summary gives a better understanding of the story instead of the other one. So, please don't be confused. Aside from that, I am on vacation so its hard to write. I literally wrote this chapter in the past one hour and so it's probably cluttered with errors. Sorry! However, the expect the next chapter next Sunday or Monday because I simply do not have enough time.
Now that all that stuff is out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Train Rides
Chapter 5
To say that Hermione did not get a brink of sleep was an understatement. She had tossed and turned the entire night fighting with Malfoy for the damn quilt and the tiny bed. Of course, the ferret slept wonderfully, his snores filling the room like the sound of an out of tune orchestra. The blonde liked to hog the bed, forcing her to retreat all the way to edge until she had to cling to his body for support. She had pushed and pulled his body but alas, her she was not known for her upper body strength. She had blushed as she tentatively put a palm on his chest, curling her fingers tightly around his shirt. She was waiting for the man to wake up and yell obscenities at.
Malfoy simply moved a few centimeters before bringing her closer to him. She gave up trying to get her side of the bed back after a while before settling herself in his arms. His scent filled her nose — mint, sandalwood, and a hint of lemon. Her cheeks turned a violent shade of red once she realized his scent was rather intoxicating.
It was perhaps at late dawn when the sunlight was streaming through the two large windows when she fell asleep, cushioned by Draco Malfoy's arms and one hand wrapped around his torso.
Draco Malfoy felt himself wake up when something hard collided with his ankle. He had been sleeping peacefully, surrounded by a surprisingly soft blanket in his arms. He peered his eyes open, darting them around until they fell on a pale foot on top of his ankle.
His eyes trailed the sinfully long legs until they fell on the girl's face. Hermione Granger slept open-mouthed, her hair covering every inch of the pillow and one hand lay slung over his chest. He stayed still for a moment, in taking the sight of her.
Never would he have guessed in a million years that he'd be sharing a bed with the golden girl. She looked deranged, really. Her hair was all over the place, she had a trail of drool leading down to her chin and her open mouth revealed hints of pearly white teeth.
He couldn't speak, his breath hitched. He had never seen anything more beautiful.
His eyes shot up immediately. Why was he calling her beautiful? She possessed looks that rivaled that of a troll's.
A very innocent, feisty, beautiful troll, a voice spoke on the back of his mind.
He rolled his eyes and ignored the voice as he stood up. But the nagging thoughts did not silence themselves, whispering more sinfully dirty thoughts about Granger in his ears.
"Shut up," he growled out, running a hand through his hair.
He turned on his heel, twisting his throbbing ankle on the quilt that lay on the floor. In a moment, he turned around and fell on the bed. On top of Hermione Granger to be precise. The girl's eyes snapped open immediately and for the second time, he found himself speechless.
"Malfoy," she whispered, breaking him out of his little trance. "Why do I keep waking up with you on top of me?"
Quick, say something seductive Draco. Make her speechless.
"Maybe I want to be on top of you," he said after a moment, his voice husky and deep.
Wonderful. That's bound to make her shut up.
Surprisingly, she let out a laugh — its sound ringing like bells in the air. He leant in, hypnotised by the way her eyes twinkled when she laughed. She put her hands on his shoulder, leaning in. What had occurred next, he did not know. One moment he was on top of Granger and the next moment, he was flipped on to his back with her sitting on top of him.
"What the fuck?" He said, his eyes dazed.
He saw the brunette lean in closely, her breasts touching his chest and her face an inch from his own. He felt himself lean in towards her
"Go brush your teeth Malfoy, your morning breath smells horrible."
With that she strutted off, leaving him to wonder about what just happened.
When Hermione walked out the room, Malfoy had already left the room. A dark blush stained her cheeks. Why had she done that? What possibly caused her to sit on top of Draco Malfoy and act like that? She shook her head. The moment he had uttered those words, maybe I want to be on top of you — a surge of passion and confidence had flooded through her. Blast it, everything was going well and she just had to go and ruin it.
Admit it, you like him on top of you.
Her cheeks turned a violent shade of red. She smoothed down her shirt and walked past the door, pushing all thoughts of the incident (that's what she liked to call it) out of her mind.
Hermione strode down the hall towards the receptionist's desk. Where was Malfoy? They were supposed to talk about their whole problem today.
"Draco Malfoy," she said to the old man sitting down. "Do you know where he is?"
The man gave her a blank stare. "Je ne parle pas l'anglais." (I don't speak English."
She gave him a confused stare. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"
"No englais," the man replied waving his hands around.
Of course, how could she forget it. They were in some damn small town in the middle of France. She did not speak a brink of French. Latin, yes she spoke it perfectly. Her Spanish was extremelt good. Italian, slight but she could manage. She even knew a bit of German. But French, no. No french.
Huffing, she tried again.
"Draco Malfoy," she said, pronouncing his name as if it were four separate words. "Blond, pale."
The man gave an instant look of recognition. "Ah, Draco Malfoy. L' homme étrange qui m'a donné l'or " .
She nodded, pretending to understand him. "Draco Malfoy," she tried again.
The man pointed towards the large doors behind him. "Garden."
She nodded. "Thanks."
She took hesitant steps towards the garden, her eyes scanning through the windows until they fell on a pale blonde head, surrounded by many other blonde heads as well. She narrowed her eyes at the bimbos around him, immediately developing a distaste towards them.
She took calm steps as she approached him, making a mental note to ask herself later on why she was so damn nervous.
"Malfoy," she greeted him.
"Granger," he replied in an equally monotone voice.
She eyed his hand that was draped over the other girl's shoulder. "We have to figure out how we're going back to Venice."
"Come on Granger, Venice Smenice" he drawled. "Have some fun."
She rolled her eyes and placed her weight on her other foot. "No, we seriously have to figure out how to go back. Let's go, Malfoy."
He rolled his eyes.
"Elle a un bâton dans le cul," Malfoy whispered in one bimbo's ear. (She has a stick up her arse).
The blonde girl stood there for a moment before breaking into peals of laughter.
"Dans..le..cul," the girl wheezed out, pointing at her.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. She had no idea what he meant but it was no doubt something vile and condescending. Fine, two could play this game. She could have fun too.
"Two could play this game, Malfoy," she whispered to herself.
"What?"
She plastered a fake smile on her face. "Nothing. I'll see you later."
She turned on her heel and walked towards a group of men she had seen earlier, leaving a worried Draco Malfoy behind.
Hermione walked towards the men nervously. Be confident Hermione. Be confident.
But how can she confident when she didn't even speak the same language they spoke? Dammit, they were stuck in the middle of nowhere and what does his royal pain in the arse do? He goes and starts flirting with bimbos. She rolled her eyes. Typical Malfoy behavior. She should have never left that damn train.
She huffed, plastering a smile in her face as she approached the group.
"Excuse me," she asked . "Do any of you speak English?"
The men looked at her before one opened his mouth. "I do. What do you need help with, Miss?"
Hermione stared at him, dumbfounded. He was tall, almost as tall as Malfoy but not quite , and had brown hair and muddy green eyes. He smiled at her and she noticed the adorable dimples forming in his cheeks.
"Miss?"
"Oh yes, of course," she muttered, her cheeks turning pink. "I..um..I'm new here and I was wondering if you could show me arround."
"Yes, of course," the man nodded towards her. "My name is Louis. And yours would be?"
"Hermione," she answered. "My name is Hermione."
The man's, no, Louis' eyes twinkled. "Hermione, what a beautiful name. Daughter of Helen of Tory, right?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Why are you surprised?" He asked noticing the shock lingering in her tone.
"Not a lot of people know about Hermione," she answered shyly. "The daughter of Helen of Troy."
He smiled kindly at he and she felt her heart melt slightly, like warm chocolate.
"Well Hermione, what brings you to this town? Hardly anyone comes here," he questioned.
Hermione bit her lip. What was she going to tell him? That she missed her train to Venice because she was running after a prick known as Draco Malfoy. He would probably think that she was silly and absurd.
"I came here with my friends," she lied after a moment. "But nevermind him, he's being a git. Would you mind showing me around this town? It's quite lovely."
Louis looked at her quizzically for a moment. "Of course, let's go. Though, I do sense a lover's quarrel."
"Oh, no no no," she replied, her face slightly flush. "He and I..we..us... Mal..We're just friends. Let's go."
Louis simply nodded, a smirk forming in his lips before bowing down slightly. "The lady goes first."
She grinned, her eyes peeking at Malfoy from one corner. He was staring at her with a hard expression on his face.
Granger- 1
Malfoy- 0
Draco Malfoy glared at the brunette as she trudged along with the man. His little part of his heart with a conscience liked to call the feeling he felt "jealousy"; his sensible side told him that he should not care about her; and his Malfoy side that told him to stop thinking and feeling anything for her.
Not that he felt anything for her. That was bloody preposterous. Caring about that bushy haired know-it-all? Psh...
But of course, that damn nagging part with standards and morals kept poking into his thoughts.
Granger doesn't know a bit of French. What if that thick headed numbskull is going to take advantage of her?
What if he tries to assault her?
What if he hurts her?
His vision was blurry and his heart was thudding hard. So, what if all those things did happen to Granger? He didn't care about her. Did he? He shook his head, trying to clear all thoughts about her. If he was in France, he might as well try to enjoy his time.
He looked him, settling his eyes on one of the blonde's surrounding him. What was her name again? Jackie? Jacqueline? Jaime? Whatever.
"You look splendid" he lied as he picked up one very bleached blonde strand.
The girl giggled and he winced as the sound hit his ears.
"Thank you, Draco," she responded, rolling out the 'o' in his name. "My friend is having a party tonight. Pierre, that old bat who sits in the front, won't be here so we're celebrating. You can come, if you want."
He grimaced as she trailed a finger down his chest. Yes, the girl was absolutely beautiful. Blonde hair, blue eyes, tall, big boobs. But he preferred brunettes.
Like a certain lady named Hermione Granger.
"Yes, that will be perfect," he answered, ignoring Bob — the name he picked out for the voice in the back of his head. "Only if you're going there."
"Draaco," the girl wheezed out. "Oh, you flatter me. Of course, I'll go with you."
He scowled. "Of course."
"So, where did you go to school?" Louis asked after they came out of the little bakery. She had purchased three chocolate cupcakes; one for her, one for Louis, and one for Malfoy. That is if he apologized for being a git. An unlikely possibility, yes, but it never hurt to be nice. Even to a Malfoy.
"I went to boarding school," she answered as she unwrapped one cupcake and held up the box for Louis. He shook his head.
"Oh, that must have been nice," he said as they walked side by side.
"Nice," she scoffed as she recalled the events from the war. "It was anything but nice."
Louis chuckled softly beside her. "School seems to be a sore spot for you. I'm assuming you didn't like to study."
"No, no Merlin," she laughed out quickly. "I love studying and learning. Just, a lot of bad memories are associated with school."
"Merlin?" He questioned as Hermione's blood drained. Oh gods. How could she have let that slip?
"Y-Yes! Merlin," she exclaimed, her voice laced with fake amusement. "That was a slang back in my school."
Louis simply nodded before muttering something that suspiciously sounded like odd girl. She ignored him as she slowed in front of boutique.
Mind you, Hermione Granger was a girl who preferred smarts much more than looks. But she was a girl and like most girls, she liked to diverge in a shopping spree every once in a while. She sighed longingly at the pastel dresses, kicking herself mentally for leaving her money back in the train.
"Do you want to go in?" Louis asked.
"I can't," she replied softly. "I left my money behind."
The brown haired man rolled his eyes and pushed her towards the door. "Nonsense, I buy it for you."
"What? Louis I can't ask you to do that."
"You're not asking. I'm offering. Plus, the owner is a very, very close friend of mine. He'll give it to you for a discount if not for free once he hears that you're my friend."
Well, if the man was so hell bent on buying her a dress, she couldn't say no.
Draco Malfoy was scowling. The last time he had seen Granger was at least three or four hours ago. What if something had happened to her? Didn't the girl know what ran through the minds of men? He sighed, debating whether he should look for her or not.
But where would he look for her? This place, as small as it was, was a muggle town and he was a Malfoy, he didn't know shit about muggle things. Just as he was about to get up, the door opened and in walked the person he had gotten all worked up for.
"All right, I'll see you tonight," she laughed at whoever was opposite the door. "Bye."
She shut the door, her eyes lingering there before they fell on the seething blonde on the bed. "Malfoy."
"Where in the world were you?"
His voice was cool, calm, and unlike she had ever heard it before. Of course, she wasn't scared of Malfoy or anything but she had never seen him this angry.
"I was out," she answered as she placed the bags from the boutique and the bakery on the bed. "With Louis."
"Who the fuck is Louis?"
"The brown haired man you saw me with," she shot back. "Don't look so surprised, I saw you looking."
Malfoy growled and within a second he was in front of her. "Before you start whoring yourself around, Granger, I think you should consider the fact that we are stuck in the middle of nowhere and you are not doing anything to help."
Her eyes flashed dangerously and she gave him a hard push. "Excuse me? Whoring myself around? Who do you think you are? I wanted to help this morning but your royal pain in the arse told me to have fun. So that's what I'm doing. Having. Fun."
"Last time I checked, acting like a little slut was not having fun," he drawled. "But then again, your kind does tend to be-"
"Get. Out."
"What?"
"Get the fuck out of this room right now," her voice was collected but he could see the anger through it. "Or I'll scream bloody murder. I swear to god Malfoy."
He slumped his shoulders. "Fine."
He walked out the door, slamming it hard behind him.
This was it. He had done it. He had scared her off and he was the one who hurt her, not that Louis person she was talking to.
Fear spread through Draco's heart once he realised her messed up. Hard.
Please read and review. It will get me really motivated to write and maybe, the next chapter can get posted earlier than Sunday. Who knows?