Hermione was more nervous about Draco coming over to visit their house than he had been. He had only shown excitement. And as great as he had been about it, his house had only caused her more worry.
She might have only been five, but she knew that her parents weren't poor. She wasn't quite sure what poverty was, but it sounded bad. But Draco's house had been huge. And his mother had said that there was more space than they used.
The biggest problem Hermione had was that Draco had given her a broom. Sure, it didn't go very high, but they couldn't use it in her back yard. There wasn't much space back there. And there was the fact that her neighbours could potentially see them.
She was pacing the hallway outside her room nervously when her mother checked on her.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Don't know," Hermione muttered. "What do we even have that wizards would like?"
Mrs. Granger shook her head. She hardly ever knew what to do with her daughter. Since her betrothal, unexpected as it might have been, she had found the situation even more difficult to handle. And it wasn't just that she had to entertain Draco for an afternoon.
"At least you cleaned up your room," Mrs. Granger said.
"Not like Draco will even be in there anyway," Hermione huffed under her breath.
"Oh, he might not be. But you'll be glad it's all done when we get back."
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked. Her mood lightened considerably. If her mother was planning on taking them out, there was probably more of a chance Draco would enjoy it.
Mrs. Granger smiled. "That's for me to know. You and Draco get to find out at the same time."
Hermione pouted. She looked rather cute, and she knew it. Thankfully, it was made easier to avoid giving in by the doorbell ringing. Hermione gasped, her face paling a little, but she ran to the door anyways.
"Draco, you made it," Hermione cried when she opened the door.
"Your house wasn't hard to find," Draco said.
Narcissa Malfoy smiled at Draco's words, but gently shook her head. "Just because you didn't do the apparating doesn't mean that it wasn't hard to find. The first time," she muttered.
"How was the trip?" Helena asked. "I hope it was better than that portal key thing you sent us."
"Portkeys can be a nasty experience," Narcissa agreed. "Apparating is much less discombobulating."
"What's appirating?" Hermione asked Draco.
"It's disappearing from one place, and then reappearing in another," he whispered to her. "Still makes you sick."
"Ugh," Hermione moaned. "Sounds horrid."
Draco shrugged. "You get used to it. Mother and Father don't like to use portkeys or floo powder if they don't have to."
"If you two are done whispering, we'll be going," Mrs. Granger said to the children.
"Where are we going?" Draco asked.
"We're going to the zoo," Mrs. Granger said.
Hermione got excited. "Are we taking the tube?"
"No. Your father has agreed to let us take his car."
"No way!"
Hermione started dancing around the living room. Her dad never let anyone drive his car. For them to take the car to the zoo meant that he really wanted things to go well.
They all climbed into the car. Draco and Hermione were eager. And the fact that Draco had never been in a car before didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. It did faze Narcissa.
"What am I supposed to do?" she asked nervously.
"Sit down," Helena told her.
Narcissa sat down. She was still nervous. Whatever contraption the car was, she didn't feel safe.
Helena helped her fasten the seatbelt, and then they were off. Hermione and Draco almost bounced the whole ride. And they giggled incessantly, over what no one was sure.
They arrived, and Draco and Hermione ran off to look at the animals. Helena and Narcissa followed, though much slower.
"I have to say that wasn't totally horrible," Narcissa said. "I don't like it, but it isn't the worst way to travel."
Helena chuckled. "I would have to give that title to the portkey thing."
Narcissa nodded. "They are rather despicable things. But if you need to transport a large group of people, they can be very useful."
They followed Draco and Hermione while the toured the zoo. Hermione showed Draco her favourite exhibits and told him some of the facts that she knew. Trains weren't the only thing Hermione had an interest in. She liked to know everything.
Before long, they were back in the car, heading back to the Grangers' house. Draco and Hermione were still talking. But the biggest difference was that Narcissa had calmed down. She rode all the way back without a problem.
Narcissa and Helena sat in the living room while Draco and Hermione went out to the backyard to play. They were just running around screaming and laughing. Neither of their mothers were sure what they were up to. But they were having fun.
Eventually Helena and Narcissa walked outside. They found Hermione and Draco on the ground, looking up at the clouds. They were finding shapes, and still giggling about them. It was quite a sight to see.
"It's a dragon," Hermione insisted.
"It's not a dragon. It's obviously a wyren," Draco argued with her.
Their mothers exchanged glances. They had no idea what can of worms had just been opened. Or perhaps it was a can of wyrms.
Hermione rolled over and pushed herself up onto her arms. "Draco, it has legs and wings. That's a dragon."
Draco huffed, sitting up. "Two legs and two wings is a wyren. Four legs and two wings is a dragon."
"I think your cloud is blowing away," Mrs. Granger interjected. She hated to see them fighting, as amusing as it was.
They looked up.
"Aww. I liked that one," Hermione said.
Draco shrugged. "There will be more clouds. Come on." He pulled her up and headed over to his mother.
Narcissa handed him a wrapped package, which he turned and handed to Hermione. She tore into it with vigor.
"You really shouldn't do that," Helena whispered. "We didn't even get anything for Draco."
Narcissa waved her off. "You don't have to. We have more than enough. And it's nice to see Draco so excited to get something for a friend. And this is something that just about every wizarding child has. It's just a book of our fairy tales."
Helena thought about it. She couldn't refuse a gift such as that. She wasn't thrilled about the broomstick, but it did have to stay at the Malfoys' house anyway. But there wasn't a good reason that she could cut Hermione off from something that was intrinsically part of her.
"I suppose that's fine," she conceded.
Hermione had just finished looking at the book, and she hugged Draco. It almost looked like she was going to squish him.
"I think she liked it," Narcissa said.
"It's a book. Of course she did."
A/N: Yep. I have no social life whatsoever. (Well, not much of one anyways.) I keep writing. And there's just so much going on in my head. And I started reading a book. And I'm sewing more. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a social life. I don't have time for one.