“Draco,” she called out, but he didn’t turn around. “Draco!” she yelled.
This time, Draco turned around as he heard someone familiar call out his name. He saw Hermione running towards him, her eyes filled with anger and determination.
“Ignore her, Draco,” Jessie advised, “she’s just jealous.” She tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. Draco didn’t need telling twice; he immediately looked away from Hermione and continued to walk on with Jessie. However, seconds later Jessie was furiously turned around by a pair of hands. Hermione stood in front of her, her cheeks flushed and her eyes full of hatred.
“How dare you!” Jessie exploded. “Don’t you ever touch me, you little -”
Jessie never got to finish her sentence because the next thing she knew, a fist collided with her jaw, making her stumble back in surprise. She fell to the ground in pain; clenching on to her face.
Hermione put all her emotion and anger into that one punch. She could’ve used her wand, but she preferred the physical way; it made her feel better.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” Draco yelled. He glared angrily at Hermione and kneeled down next to Jessie. “What the hell is your problem?” he spat, glancing up at her. “What did she ever do to you?” Draco gave her the most disgusted look she had ever seen. He looked back down at Jessie and gently stroked the place where Hermione had punched her.
Hermione tried her best to regain her composure. He didn’t mean anything he said, she told to herself, he’s under a love spell. Hermione took a deep breath and walked over to the both of them.
“Come on, Draco,” she said gently, trying to pull him up. “Get up.”
“Draco! Don’t leave me!” Jessie whimpered. “Don’t listen to her.” She quickly grabbed hold onto his hand and pulled him towards her. If he got a fair distance away from her, the perfume wouldn’t work anymore.
Draco roughly shrugged Hermione’s hand off and hissed, “Leave me.”
Hermione ignored him and continued to try and pull him away from Jessie. “Just listen to me. Come on, Draco, get up.” Once again, he angrily brushed her hand off. Hermione flinched back in surprise; she was shocked how a much a person could change under some sort of love spell.
Draco helped Jessie to stand up, who unsteadily grabbed onto his arm to support herself. She shot a nasty glance towards Hermione and said, “You’ll pay. First you slap me, and then you punch me. Do you think I’ll just stand around and let you have it your way?” She laughed hysterically. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Hermione smirked. How would Jessie react if she told her that she was the brightest witch of her age? What would Jessie do if she told her that she helped Harry Potter destroy Lord Voldemort? But she wasn’t ready to tell all that to Jessie yet. Hermione still wanted to get her back for all that she had done to her, and the best way was for her not to know that she was a witch.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing against either, Jessie,” Hermione chuckled. “Now leave him alone.”
Draco looked as if he couldn’t hear what was being said between the two girls. His eyes were glued to Jessie.
“No,” Jessie spat, “you leave him alone. He wants to be with me, not you!” She angrily picked up her bag from the ground, and slung it on her shoulder. “Come on, Draco. Let’s go.” She took his hand in hers and desperately pulled him along with her.
Hermione immediately caught up with the two of them, and casually walked beside Draco. She was having fun tormenting Jessie this way. She saw her eyes bulge out in outrage. Hermione made the distance between Jessie and herself so that they were an arm’s length away; just in case Jessie decided to do anything foolish.
“What’s the hurry Jessie?” Hermione said coolly, “Afraid that Draco will change his mind about you if you leave him with me long enough?” Draco looked at her as if she had said the most revolting thing in the world.
“Go away,” Draco snarled, “you filthy little Mudblo -” But he was immediately silenced by Hermione’s hand, which covered his mouth. Hermione’s heart pounded wildly against her chest. She couldn’t believe what Draco was about to say; he would have given the both of them away. What is wrong with him! Did the love spell make him lose a brain cell?!
Luckily, it seemed that Jessie hadn’t paid attention to what he was saying. However, once she saw Hermione’s hand over his mouth, she yelped, “What do you think you’re doing!?” Jessie stopped in her tracks and looked at Hermione’s hand in horror. She was about to reach out and grab it when Draco got there first. He roughly removed the hand covering his mouth and angrily pushed Hermione away from him.
Hermione stumbled back as Draco fiercely shoved her away; pain shooting up her shoulder because of his strong and angry push.
“What do you want with me?! Don’t you ever touch me like that again.” He looked at Hermione without a trace of compassion on his handsome face. It scared her a little to see him this enraged. Hermione clutched her throbbing shoulder and looked straight into his eyes; she could see nothing familiar in them. His grey orbs looked darker and more sinister.
Hermione could have used her wand and stupefied Jessie, but she didn’t want to. If Jessie found out that she was a witch, she wouldn’t hesitate to curse her. Pretending to be an innocent muggle would lessen her intentions to curse her. She could handle this situation the muggle method anyway.
Violet looked everywhere for Jessie. She searched the girls’ bathroom, the souvenir shops with its t-shirts and toy birds, and even the small cafes where everyone sheltered from the blistering sun. Even the boys helped in looking for her, but not one of them came across Jessie.
“Maybe she went looking for the bathroom and got lost,” suggested Jake, scratching his head unconsciously.
“The bathroom was right opposite from where we were standing,” Roger replied, shaking his head. “Are you sure you checked the girls’ bathroom properly, Violet? What if she locked herself in one of the cubicles?” The boys laughed. Violet impatiently tapped her foot on the ground, twirling a strand of hair around her finger and thinking furiously.
“Why would she run away?” Violet said, thinking aloud. “Something must have attracted her…” she muttered under her breath.
“Well that’s obvious,” Alex laughed, “The only thing that can get Jessie’s attention is some guy.” He batted his eyelashes flirtatiously and pouted his lips. “Oh, hello there! My name is Jessie. My, aren’t you the good-looking one.” Everyone burst out laughing, even Violet smiled at Alex’s imitation.
“Don’t do that again!” Jake laughed, “You sound like her.”
“Do I?” Alex asked, a goofy smile plastered across his face. “Then I better not do it again! Ever!”
“Hold on a second,” Violet said suddenly. She grabbed Alex by the collar and exclaimed, “That’s it, Alex! That’s exactly what might have happened!” She let go of him and paced around; leaving Alex to look at her in surprise and confusion. “She must have gone after a guy. But who…?”
Violet stopped her pacing and groaned as she realized who that someone must be. Jessie must have gone looking for Draco. Violet shook her head and sighed. Poor Hermione.
“Do you mind explaining why you’re shaking your head and sighing?” Jake asked, giving her a questioning look.
“I think I know who she’s after,” Jessie replied, looking at the three boys.
“Enlighten us,” Roger said. “Just who is this lucky guy now?” he chuckled.
Violet bit her lower lip anxiously and muttered, “Draco.” She looked at the three boys to see their reactions, but they all shrugged as if this wasn’t something they hadn’t known before.
“So? I mean, we all know that Jessie fancies him. We can all see it,” Jake said casually. He then added, “I doubt she went looking for him. It’s not like she likes him so much as to ditch us.”
Violet laughed out loud, making all the three boys jump in surprise. “You boys are such… boys!” she chuckled. “Any girl could see that she absolutely loves him.” She shook her head, a smile still lingering on her lips; boys could be so dumb sometimes.
“Loves him!?” Roger exclaimed, flailing up his arms as if he had heard the most ridiculous idea. “She can’t love him! She knows Draco and Hermione are going out. Isn’t there some kind of rule in the girl’s world where it’s wrong to flirt with a guy who’s dating your friend or something?”
“What?!” Violet laughed, “You must be joking! Where in the world did you get that idea, Roger?” Suddenly, she burst into a fit of giggles. How did he ever think up such a thing?!
Roger blushed. “Well it’s something I heard somewhere,” he said defensively. He quickly tried changing the subject. “Anyway, you were saying?”
“Right, right,” she replied, trying to keep in her laughter. “As I was saying, I think Jessie has run off to look for Draco, take him away, and leave poor Hermione alone.” She said this all so fast, that Jake, Alex and Roger looked at her in confusion for a moment.
Suddenly, Alex burst out, “She wouldn’t dare!”
Violet’s eyebrow shot up so high, that it was covered by her fringe. “Are you kidding me? It’s Jessie. She’d do anything.” The boys stood quietly, nodding their heads solemnly.
Roger unconsciously scratched the back of his ear and said slowly, “So… what are we going to do?”
Alex playfully slapped the back of Roger’s head and said cheerfully, “Find her, of course!”
“Ow!” Roger yelped. He massaged the back of his head and glared at Alex, who shrugged and said, “You were asking a silly question.”
“And how is that silly?” he snapped.
“Well it’s pretty obvious,” Alex said simply, “We have to go and find Jessie so that she doesn’t ruin things between Hermione and Draco, right Violet?”
Violet nodded, a smile creeping onto her face. “Bravo, Alex! Glad you figured that one out.” She spread her arms as if she was going to embrace the world and said, “What are we waiting for?! Let’s get a move on.” And so the three of them made their way backwards, looking left and right to get a glimpse of Jessie; and perhaps also Draco and Hermione, if Violet was correct.
Hermione was furious that Malfoy had shoved her roughly; her shoulder was throbbing painfully. She kept telling herself it wasn’t his fault; that he was under some love spell, but he looked as if he had really meant what he did. Of course he does, her head said shrilly, he’s not thinking straight so you better make him come to his senses!
She inhaled deeply and gritted her teeth. She wasn’t trying hard enough. She might as well knock out some of Draco’s teeth to get him to his senses. Hermione almost laughed at this thought, but held it inside; it wasn’t the right time to laugh or to think about such things.
She was about to make her next move, when she saw four people come into view. She didn’t want to make a big scene so she waited for them to pass. However, when she noticed who those ‘four people’ were, her heart soared. She wanted to run to them and hug them all. She wanted to laugh at Jessie’s face and say, “Game’s over!” She had never in her life felt so happy to see four people come towards her.
Violet was the first to reach the three of them. She shook her head and said in a stern voice, “Jessie! Why did you lie to me, and just leave!”
Jessie eyed her friends in dismay. She would be pulled and dragged by them and get separated from her Draco! At this thought, she instinctively tightened her grip on his arm.
Violet looked at Hermione and smiled when she saw her look of relief. She winked at her and then turned her attention back towards Jessie. “Come on, let’s go. Leave Draco and Hermione together.” Violet gestured for Jessie to follow her, but her friend stood rooted to the spot.
“No,” Jessie said, “I don’t want to. She linked her arms with Draco and said firmly, “I’m staying here with Draco.”
Roger, Jake and Alex, came and stood next to Violet. Jessie immediately took a step backwards, pulling Draco along with her. “Don’t come any closer,” Jessie warned the boys. “I mean it.”
Roger laughed and said, “What’s wrong with you.” However, none of the boys moved.
“I’ll meet you guys later. Just let me talk with Draco for a few minutes,” she pleaded. Hermione snorted. She knew that Jessie wanted to have more than a ‘talk’ with him.
The three boys stood still, but Violet ignored what Jessie had said and marched forwards. She grabbed hold of one of Jessie’s arms and said, “You are coming with me now!”
“Hey, leave her alone!” Draco said suddenly, holding Jessie back. “She said she doesn’t want to go with you.”
Violet looked at Draco in disgust and said, “You just shut your trap and stay still. You and Hermione have things to work out.” With that she roughly pulled Jessie away from him. Jessie tried with all her might to protest, but Violet was much stronger than her.
“Draco,” Jessie said, reaching out her hand for him.
“Jessie, stop that!” Violet said furiously, “He belongs to someone else.”
Jessie looked at Draco over her shoulder. She knew that he was slowly going back to his normal state; she was far enough from him. She furiously tried to pull away from Violet’s firm grip, but to no avail.
“Wait up, Violet,” Alex said.
Jessie’s heart leaped as she heard his voice. If either of the boys got near her, it would be disaster! She quickly muttered a spell to clear away the seductive odour.
“What was that?” Violet asked her curiously.
“Nothing,” Jessie mumbled back.
“Jessie!” Jake exclaimed, slapping her back playfully. “What was that all about? I mean why were you acting that way? Do you love him or something? Do you -”
“Oh, just shut up,” Jessie snapped, “You guys are supposed to be my friends! Why didn’t you just leave me alone with him?!”
“Because,” Violet replied, “You were going to break things up with them.”
“So what? He wanted to be with me, not her!” she said angrily. She glared at all four of them.
“No, Jessie,” Violet said slowly, “They are both meant to be.”
Draco stood still as his actions and words came flowing back to him. Draco’s heart started to beat faster and faster as he realized what he had said and done. He thought he would die in confusion. What was happening to him?! Why did he always act this way when Jessie came near him?
“Draco?”
He closed his eyes as he heard his name. Hermione. How could he explain himself to her this time? His heart pounded against his chest; he was too nervous. He couldn’t bring himself to turn around and face her.
“Draco? Are you alright?” Hermione asked. He felt a small hand on his shoulder, the gesture already calming him down.
“Look at me,” she whispered. She squeezed his shoulder in assurance. “It’s okay.”
Slowly, he turned around, his gaze immediately locking with her own. “I-I know you won’t believe me, but -”
“Shhh!” she said, interrupting him. She continued to look into his eyes, as if she were analyzing him; looking for something.
Hermione searched through his eyes for his familiarity. His irises were much lighter than before, and the sinister glint in them was gone. His dazed expression had vanished from his face and all she could see was pure confusion. This was the real Draco. The spell had somehow lifted.
Suddenly, she gave Draco the biggest smile he had ever seen. Seeing this, he became even more perplexed. Wasn’t she angry that he had behaved that way?
“What’s going on? Why are you smiling -” But once again, he was cut off by her. Not because she wanted to say something, but because she had suddenly flung her arms around him and buried her face against his chest. Draco stood rooted the spot in surprise. His arms hung limply on each side, not knowing what to do with them. He was shocked, embarrassed, confused and… pleased.
Draco felt her arms slightly tighten around him. He blushed and muttered, “Hermione, you’re hugging me in public.”
Hermione ignored him. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled into his chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you earlier.” She felt guilty that she hadn’t listened to him. He had tried to tell the truth but she had just ignored him. He really didn’t know why he had behaved that way; he had been so confused and she felt it were her fault that she hadn’t figured it out sooner.
Draco had no idea what she was talking about, but decided against asking her what was wrong. Ever so slowly, he lifted his arms. At first he hesitated, but then he gradually lowered his hands onto her back.
Hermione overlooked the fact that she was hugging Malfoy, and that he was hugging her back. She knew it was wrong, but she it actually felt nice. It was like cuddling a warm pillow.
Draco gently rubbed her back, not knowing how to soothe her. He had never in his entire life hugged a woman with affection, but to his surprise, it felt really good. “It’s okay,” he murmured, “it’s okay”. Her head was right next to his left cheek, and he couldn’t help but inhale her beautifully scented hair. It smelled of sweet honey and almonds.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity (but was really only a minute or so), Hermione slowly pulled away. She looked up at him and smiled. She did feel embarrassed that she had just flung herself at him, but it was out of instinct you could say.
“Are you okay?” he asked her, looking genuinely concerned.
“I should ask you the same question,” she said, laughter in her eyes. His expression immediately turned into that of confused, so Hermione quickly said, “It’s alright. I know what’s going on.”
He looked at her intriguingly; half relieved and half curious. “What do you know?”
She sighed and replied, “Everything. I’m just sorry I didn’t tell you earlier… I was being selfish.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” he said soothingly. He stopped suddenly as he realized how he must have sounded. Wanting to feel more like himself, he added in a more casual tone, “Just tell me what you know.”
Hermione didn’t notice his change in tone. “Yeah,” she sighed, “it’s about time you know what’s going on.”
“WHAT?!” Draco yelped as Hermione told him Jessie’s true identity and what she had done. His mouth fell open and his eyes grew round. “She’s a witch?”
“Yeah, and she put you under some kind of love spell,” Hermione added matter-of-factly.
Draco’s hands flew up to his head; his hands fisting onto his hair. “Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant,” he muttered under his breath. “This is what I get for my good looks.”
“Draco!” Hermione exclaimed, “This is not a joke. You shouldn’t be proud of your ‘good looks’ right now. Look at what it got you into!”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, waving his hand in dismissal. “At least you were there to figure out what was going on. Otherwise -”
“- you’d die of confusion whenever she left you,” Hermione finished off for him.
“Right,” he muttered. He looked at Hermione who was gazing sideways; admiring the colourful birds. He wanted to say something to her, but the words were just stuck in his throat. The urge to say it became stronger and stronger with each passing second until he blurted out, “Thank you.”
Hermione’s head whipped around to face him. She wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly. “What?” she asked.
“You heard me,” he said, thrusting his hands into his pockets and looking at his feet. “I said t-thank you; for helping me.”
Hermione smiled. Draco Malfoy said ‘thank you’ to her. She knew he had probably never said such a thing in his life. If he had ever said it, he probably had not really meant it.
“Do you mean it?” she asked him, trying to catch his eye.
He looked up and stared straight into her chocolate-brown eyes. “Yeah, I do.”
Hermione beamed at him. “You are absolutely welcome.”
Hey you guys! I sure hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it took a long time to get validated, but at least it's finally up! Once again, thanks to simplyme for BETAing this chapter. I hope all my readers enjoyed *smiles*