Chapter Nine: Unexpected Visitors
A red-headed boy of about ten years old peeked his head around Malfoy’s form to look at Hermione. A huge grin spread across his face as he asked, “Are you on a date, George?”
Hermione felt the heat rise in her face. She couldn’t believe that someone just suggested that she was on a date with Draco Malfoy! Apparently, Malfoy was thinking along the same lines too when he replied with a very forceful, “No!” He glanced back at Hermione whose mouth was still gaping open. “She’s just a co-worker. Now what did you want?”
Hermione finally realized to close her mouth as she tried to listen to the conversation. Malfoy’s voice had that usual hard edge to it when he was speaking to who he thought was his inferior. It was tinged with annoyance, but Hermione thought it also had a bit of sympathy.
She immediately brushed that thought away. After all, this was Malfoy; he didn’t have a sympathetic bone in his body.
“Mom wants to know if you can baby-sit me tomorrow night.” The boy was looking eagerly up at Malfoy and Hermione could tell that he was getting uncomfortable.
“Uh…” Malfoy started, clearly trying to come up with an excuse. “I can’t, I have to work.”
Not missing a beat, Hermione chimed in, “I can work for you if you want me to.” A huge grin spread across her face as she tried to look as angelic as possible.
Malfoy’s head whipped around to glare at Hermione who still smiled sweetly at him. “No, I really think I should work, I’m sure they need me at the store.” He tried to give Hermione a meaningful look to back off but she wouldn’t.
“It’s no problem, you can baby-sit tomorrow!”
Malfoy tried to put on a smile as he turned to look at the boy but it came out as a grimace. Through gritted teeth he said, “Fine. Tomorrow.” And then he very ungraciously slammed the door in the boy’s face and locked it up.
Hermione was still smiling in triumph when Malfoy came back to take his seat. He was staring daggers at Hermione but she didn’t pay attention.
“So who was your little friend?” Malfoy could see through her obvious attempts at innocence.
“One,” Malfoy ticked off on his fingers, “he’s not my friend; he’s my neighbor. Two, I needed the money and I’m the only one in the building besides him and his mum that speak English. And three, if you tell anyone I’ll curse you into the next century.”
Hermione didn’t really doubt his threat but found the whole situation to be very entertaining. “Who would I tell? And honestly, who would believe me if I did? Draco Malfoy baby-sitting a Muggle child; it’s just unheard of.”
“Good point, Granger. I don’t know why but the kid likes to be around me too. I try to keep him away but he’s like a pet; he just thinks it’s a game and comes right back.” Malfoy shook his head in aggravation.
“Well, I knew you couldn’t be doing it out of the kindness of your heart. But I suppose that’s where you caught the chicken pox.”
“Bloody kids,” Malfoy murmured to himself. “I really can only stand him in small doses. He just gets irritating. And he always reminds me of Weasley.” Malfoy noticeably shuddered at this comment and Hermione’s back instantly stiffened at the mention of Ron.
She hadn’t been expecting that name to be brought up. It was the second time he brought up the name and the first time it didn’t end so well with Hermione screaming at Malfoy. Malfoy seemed oblivious to Hermione’s quick change of demeanor though.
“Well, Henry does hang around me like Weasley hung around Potter. Maybe he wants to be my sidekick.” Malfoy actually laughed out loud of the idea but Hermione’s eyes just narrowed as she glared at him. But still Malfoy rambled on. “Like I’d let that Muggle be my sidekick. He’d be worse than Weasley.”
Malfoy finally looked up at Hermione and saw the angry look across her face. “What’s got your knickers in a twist?”
Hermione really didn’t want to go into it with Malfoy over Ron but she couldn’t help herself when she burst out, “I thought you said you had changed?”
Malfoy was a bit taken by surprise with this comment and took a minute to answer. “I think I have changed.” He paused a little longer. “Some, anyways.” He shrugged this off as if it didn’t really matter but to Hermione it did.
“What makes you think you’ve changed? I don’t see any great improvements, except for the fact that you haven’t cursed me or called me a Mudblood.” Hermione felt she was getting a little carried away but she really needed answers.
Malfoy was starting to harden at these assumptions she was making. “You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
Hermione couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped her mouth but it seemed to inflame Malfoy a bit more. “Why don’t you enlighten me then?”
“You really want to know?” Malfoy was starting to breathe heavily like it took all his strength to say what he wanted. “I haven’t seen a recognizable face in over five years. I had no idea my parents had both died. I’ve been forced to live like a Muggle and among Muggles. I’m not allowed to perform magic unless absolutely necessary and I’m not even allowed to enter the magical community unless it’s extremely important or unless I’m contacted.
“Nobody knows where I am and I have no friends to talk to but Henry here. Not that I had friends in school because half of them are probably dead as well.” Malfoy seemed to really be getting worked up. “Not to mention that the majority of the wizarding community hates me because they either think I’m working with the Death Eaters or they are Death Eaters and know I betrayed them.
“Now tell me, Miss Know-it-all, how do you think you would be if all of this had happened to you?”
Hermione was quite taken aback at his abruptness. She hadn’t really expected him to answer her at all, let alone give a brief account of what he’s been doing. All of the information seemed jumbled in her head as she tried to work it all out.
Malfoy had gotten to his feet by the end of his speech and was trying to find something to focus on to control the emotions that were pulsing inside of him.
Hermione didn’t quite know what to say but what she did manage to say didn’t help the situation at all. “I think I would’ve done just fine if I had been you.”
Malfoy didn’t like her response in the slightest and yelled, “That’s because you’re a Muggle-born. Of course you would do just fine! I’m a pure-blood and I don’t know anything besides the wizarding world! What do you expect from me?”
Hermione immediately felt embarrassment at what she had said and stammered to say something else, something a little more helpful but couldn’t think of anything.
“Out!” Malfoy shouted as he pointed to the door. “We’re done tonight. I want you out!”
Hermione shakily got to her feet and could barely look into Malfoy’s livid face. She murmured an almost inaudible, “See you at work,” but Malfoy didn’t respond. He unlocked the door and practically shoved her out of the apartment and immediately locked back up.
Bewildered, Hermione stood outside of his door for a minute while she gained her bearings. She couldn’t understand all of the mood swings that they both experienced in such a short amount of time. She was starting to think maybe they weren’t so different.
After all, they both felt pretty alone in the world. And, as was obvious from this encounter, they both were set off by certain subjects. Hermione just wasn’t sure if she could take another night like this. But she knew her curiosity would over-come in the end.
For now, Hermione figured it would be best to give Malfoy some room. She didn’t feel compelled to be around him and didn’t think he’d object. They both needed to calm down and work out their own problems.
The night air did nothing to break Hermione of her reverie. What had started out as a warm summer had turned into a brisk fall that did nothing to improve her mood. She paid no attention to her surroundings but made the trek back to her loft. Hermione was so caught up in her own thoughts and feelings that she didn’t even notice a light flickering underneath her door as she fumbled with her keys to unlock it.
She swung the door open and hastily locked it back up and threw her coat on the kitchen counter. It wasn’t until she tried to turn on the lights that she noticed something was amiss. The lights were already on.
A swift turn found Hermione face to face with her intruders. She had her wand pointed directly at their chests but immediately dropped it in shock.
“Well, now, that’s a poor defense if we were Death Eaters!” A grinning Ginny jumped up and hugged Hermione who was still frozen with shock at her guests.
“Yeah, what would Moody say if he saw you do something like that?” As soon as Ginny had stopped hugging Hermione, Harry swooped in and took over. He gave a more stiff, but firm hug as if trying to keep Hermione upright.
When Harry pulled away, Hermione finally caught up with the situation. “What are you guys doing here?” she stammered.
Ginny bent down and picked up her wand and handed it gingerly to Hermione. “Well, we haven’t heard from you in ages.”
“All summer in fact,” Harry added.
“We just wanted to make sure you were okay.” At this Ginny placed a consoling arm around Hermione and led her to the sofa so they could make themselves more comfortable.
“We talked to your parents and found out where you were at. We figured if we wrote you’d tell us not to come so we just came anyways.” Harry looked a bit sheepish at this admission but Hermione knew he was right. She wouldn’t have wanted them to come but she was glad they were here anyways.
“Well,” Hermione began, “I’m doing alright, I guess. All things considering.” Ginny and Harry looked a little sad at what Hermione was saying but she hitched on a smile despite their looks.
“Honestly, I think this has been good for me to be here. I’ve experienced so much already and I’m constantly busy which keeps my thoughts…occupied.” Hermione was trying her hardest to keep the conversation light. She didn’t want her friends’ pity and she didn’t want to bring down the mood with the topic of Ron.
Hermione looked around the room to try and change the focus off of her and what she’d been through. She noticed some dishes on the coffee table and scraps of food left on them. She gave her friends a grin and said, “I guess you two had no problem making yourselves at home did you?”
All three were relieved when they broke into easy laughter. Hermione felt like it had been ages since she’d really laughed like that. The appearance of her two best friends helped to lift the burden she had been feeling all summer. It also helped to erase her night with Malfoy from her mind. She could deal with him later; right now she was content with reconnecting with her friends.
Second Chance by WebSpinner
Chapter Notes: Well, I'm happy that I got this chapter up relatively quick. But don't expect a new one soon. It might take a while as I refocus where how the story will get to the end. But enjoy and please leave a review, they're very helpful.