“I’m impressed,” Draco said, pushing off the wall and thrusting his hands into his pockets. “Who knew you could wear my smirk so well.”
Hermione immediately let the smirk fall; replacing it with a small grimace. “First of all, I wasn’t wearing your smirk, and second of all, I don’t appreciate you standing there just waiting for a fight to break out between me and Jessie. It’s not some sort of show, Draco.”
“Sure it is,” Draco replied, walking towards her. “A fight between you and Jessie is a sight no one should miss.” He stopped a few inches away from her angry self and cocked his head to the side. “What? You’re going to punch me now?” Draco asked mockingly, seeing that her hand was clenched into a fist. “You know, punching people won’t solve your problems.”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “And you should be the one telling me that since you’re the one who knocked Bob out cold, right?” Hermione scoffed. “What, now you’re my personal advisor or something?”
“That’s right,” he answered, folding his arms across his chest. “So I advise you to start thinking about what to do with these two rather than standing there, arguing with me.”
Hermione narrowed her eyes down at him and snapped, “You’re the one who initiated the argument.” After a moment of silence, Hermione turned her back on him and stood over Jessie. Brandishing her wand, she pointed it at Jessie and muttered a spell to undo the body-locking spell.
Seconds later, Jessie’s eyes started blinking furiously and she looked up at Hermione with surprise and horror. Her right hand went over her mouth while she pushed herself away from Hermione until her back hit the cold wall; her eyes transfixed to Hermione’s wand. “You’re a…You’re a…” she mumbled from behind her sweaty hand, unable to grasp reality. She couldn’t believe this was happening.
“Well, paralyzing her in the first place was completely useless now, wasn’t it?” Draco said, coming to stand next to Hermione. “Why’d you stun her if you were going to relieve the spell a minute later?”
Hermione closed her eyes in order to calm herself. “Just go over there and try to wake Bob up,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’ll deal with Jessie.”
“I’m not going over to Bob and try waking him up. What? You want me to whisper in his ear or something? Stroke his hair and see if he comes around? I’m not a bloody Healer. And anyway, what is about to happen here will be much more interesting.”
Hermione groaned in frustration. Her eyes flew open and she angrily turned towards him to grab is collar a second later. “Look, Malfoy. I don’t have time to listen to your childish whining alright? Just go there and try to wake him up. It’s your fault he’s unconscious, so go and do something about it!” She let go of him and took a small step back, glaring daggers at the boy in front of her.
“Temper, temper, Granger,” Draco chided, a little taken aback by how she had suddenly grabbed him. “You’ve got to learn how to control that. Count to ten next time you -” Hermione gave him a murderous look and he put his hands up as if in surrender. “Fine, fine… going…”
Sighing in relief, Hermione turned her attention back to Jessie. She seemed to have gotten over the initial shock and was now slowly standing up, her back pressed against the wall; her hand tightly clutching onto her wand. She pointed a shaky finger at Hermione and stuttered, “Y-you’re like me…y-you’re a -”
“A witch…yes,” Hermione completed for her. “Now, I don’t have all day, so come on, on to your room.” She took a small step forward, but flinched as Jessie flung her arm out defensively; pointing her wand directly at her and nearly poking her eye out.
“Don’t you dare come close to me!” Jessie exclaimed. “I won’t hesitate to hex you if you take another step forward.” She nervously tightened her grip on her wand and moved away from the wall; slowly taking a step back from Hermione.
“Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage already?” Hermione asked incredulously. “Honestly, who do you think you are?! You almost drowned me, tried to make Draco fall in love with you, insulted me, tried to make me jealous, and even put Bob under some sort of love spell. Merlin, Jessie!” Hermione was growing angrier by every word she said. Listing the things Jessie had done made her realize just how cruel Jessie’s intentions were. And all this was because of Draco. Because Jessie wanted him for her own, she had decided to get rid of all the obstacles in her way, no matter the cost. Hermione couldn’t believe people like Jessie existed “ people who cared only for themselves; completely indifferent to another’s feelings.
“And now you want to hex me?!” Hermione asked dangerously. “After all you’ve done?”
“What are you going to do about it?” Jessie questioned, trying her very best to sound brave. “Paralyze me again?”
Hermione squared her shoulders and stuck her nose up in the air. “I’m more capable than you think.” She quickly pointed her wand at Jessie and exclaimed, “Accio wand!”
Jessie had no time to react. She hadn’t expected Hermione to pull such an act and yelped in surprise as her wand flew out of her hand and into Hermione’s. “Give that back to me!” Jessie exploded, scrambling towards Hermione, hoping to yank her wand out of her hand. But in her eagerness to take back what was rightfully hers, she slipped and crashed onto the floor, grazing her knee against the rough surface.
Draco almost laughed out loud. He knew he should be a little bit concerned about her fall “ after all, Jessie was human too “ but he felt no such thing. He could not forget all the things she had done and anyway, her expression before falling was absolutely priceless! Shaking his head in amusement, he concentrated at the task at hand. How was he supposed to wake him up?! After a moment of thinking, he shrugged, placed his hands on Bob’s shoulder and tried to shake him awake. “Wake up,” he muttered under his breath, not believing he was actually trying to wake up someone he had punched moments ago. I mean, who does that?! he thought incredulously. But nothing happened. Bob lay as motionless as ever.
“Draco! What are you doing?” Hermione demanded, seeing that his hands were fisted onto Bob’s shirt.
“Trying to wake him up maybe?” Draco said sardonically. “What do you think?!”
“It looks as if you’re ready to kill him!” Hermione shot back furiously. “Honestly, can you do nothing right?!”
Draco let go of Bob and stood up. “I’m trying to help you out here,” he sneered. “I can’t help it if you don’t like the way I do things. I told you I didn’t want to do this in the first place.”
“You know what?” Hermione said, getting tired of arguing, “I’ll do it. If that’s what’s going to make this work then, fine. I’ll handle Bob and you take care of Jessie.”
Draco smiled in pleasure, enjoying watching Hermione get all pissed off. It felt good to know he was still able to get under her skin once in a while “ it gave him some sort of satisfaction. Smirking as she walked past him haughtily, he said, “Well, it’s good to know we finally agree on something.”
Hermione scowled. “Yes, finally…” she grumbled as she kneeled down next to Bob. She looked up at Draco from her position and said, “Now, make sure that -” Hermione cut off her sentence mid-way when she realized Jessie wasn’t where she had left her. She looked forward and yelped, “She’s running!”
While Draco and Hermione were too busy worrying about themselves, Jessie had taken her cue to leave. She hated leaving her wand behind with Hermione, but she had no other choice. She didn’t want to wait and see what Hermione was planning to do with her and anyway, she could get her wand back later on with the help of her friends. Ignoring the sharp pain in her knee, Jessie slowly stood up; not wanting to attract any attention. She didn’t dare move until the both of them were looking the other way, and when she finally got her chance… she ran.
Draco swivelled around and saw Jessie running down the empty corridor. She was already half-way down when he started chasing after her, quickly gaining momentum and hence swiftly catching up to her. Once he was finally near enough, he reached out and grabbed on to her wrist; pulling her backward in order to get a better grip on her.
“Get off me!” Jessie yelled, thrashing furiously as Draco somehow managed to get his arms around the girl. He turned her around so that her back was pressed against his chest and then encircled his arms around her so as to restrict her movements. Jessie struggled to break his grip, but to no avail. Her arms were pinned to her sides and Draco’s hold on her was strong “ she knew it was hopeless to fight. It would just drain her energy in the process.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Draco whispered against her ear, causing a shiver to involuntarily run down her spine. “Hermione, there, has some unfinished business with you.”
“So let her deal with me,” Jessie spat. “I’m not afraid.”
Draco chuckled. “Well, you soon will be. She’s terrifying when she’s angry.”
“She may be able to scare you, Draco, but that’s not going to happen to me.” Jessie tried to break his grip once more, but it only made him strengthen his hold.
“She doesn’t scare me,” Draco replied swiftly.
“Yeah right,” Jessie laughed. “If you weren’t scared, you wouldn’t be doing her dirty work.”
“I’m not doing her dirty work,” Draco sneered into her ear.
Jessie smiled mischievously; a plan formulating in her head. “Aren’t you?” she asked playfully. “Then what exactly are you doing, Draco? Helping her?”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, but you better -”
“Don’t you see?” Jessie cut in. “You’re letting her boss you around.” She nodded her towards Hermione and Bob and added, “And if you ask me, those two seem to have something going on.”
Draco looked upon the two of them and felt his heart pound against his chest. A mixture of jealousy and something else which he couldn’t quite place rushed through him, making him wonder just what the hell was wrong with him. He watched carefully as Hermione cradled Bob’s head on her lap, slowly stroking his hair as if it would make him feel better. He hated himself for it, but he couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel if she had done that to him. He could nearly feel her softly brushing away his strands of hair while she cradled him; whispering soothing words down at him.
“I thought she loved you,” Jessie went on, seeing that Draco had turned silent. “But it looks as if she’s grown fond of him, doesn’t it?”
When Draco didn’t reply, Jessie said, “Admit it, Draco. You’re being pushed around by her and doing absolutely nothing about it. I don’t even know why you’re holding me back. Why? Because she told you to?”
Draco suddenly realized what Jessie was trying to do. He couldn’t believe he was being made a complete fool by none other than Jessie! She was trying to turn him against Hermione “ to make him feel as if Hermione was just using him. If he had let his pride over run him, he was sure he would have let Jessie go free “ precisely according to her plan. To prove to her that he was not being pushed around, he would have tried to defy Hermione by setting her loose.
“I’m not doing this because she told me to,” Draco snarled. “I’m doing this because she probably won’t be able to handle someone like you.” Without another word, he brandished his wand and pressed the tip against Jessie’s throat, causing her to let out a small gasp of surprise. “You say another word and I swear I’ll -”
“Draco!” Hermione yelled out happily. “He’s waking up!”
Bob’s eyes fluttered open and he groaned in pain as he felt his jaw sting. He winced as a hand gently touched the side of his jaw, groaning as his vision cleared and things came into focus. “Where am I?” he mumbled, slowly massaging his head. “What happened?”
“Bob!” Hermione exclaimed in relief. “How do you feel? Are you experiencing any dizziness? Does it hurt?” she asked as she softly brushed her fingers over the swollen bruise that had now formed.
“Of course it hurts,” Draco said matter-of-factly, walking over to the both of them and pulling Jessie along with him. “I hit him after all.” Hermione waved him off and held up three fingers in front of Bob, causing Draco to roll his eyes. “Oh, you can’t be serious…”
Ignoring his snide remarks, Hermione asked, “Bob, how many fingers do you see?”
The young sailor groggily looked at her and mumbled, “Erm…three…?” Hermione nodded her head in satisfaction and helped him to sit up. Bob felt his jaw and asked, “What happened?”
“Well…” Hermione said, looking at Draco for help. “You…erm…”
“You collided with her,” Draco quickly added, pushing Jessie forward. “She was running around the corner when her head collided with your jaw.” Jessie nudged him, but all he did was smirk. “Now, now, Jessie,” he chuckled. “Why don’t you apologize for banging into him?”
Jessie’s lips curled into a sneer. “I will not apologize for something I haven’t done,” she growled, desperately trying to fight Draco off. “Now, let go of me!”
Bob gradually stood up, flexing his jaw to check if it hurt when he moved it. “It’s alright,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Technically, it isn’t her fault. I’m sure she didn’t mean to knock me out.” He smiled at Jessie and gave her a small wink. “Are you alright?”
“Oh yeah,” Jessie muttered sarcastically. “I’m being held back by him and being bossed around by her… I’m feeling great. I feel like flowers and stuff like that -”
“Well, we better get going,” Hermione interjected, laughing nervously. “Got to get back to our rooms… Will you be okay?”
“Yeah,” Bob replied. “You guys go on.” He motioned for them to go and smiled encouragingly at Hermione, who still looked a bit concerned. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine!”
“Alright,” Hermione said, returning the smile. “I’ll see you later then.” She turned around and faced both Draco and Jessie, ready to finally get this over with. “Come on,” Hermione said smugly, taking hold of Jessie’s ear. “I don’t have all day to clean up your mess!”
Draco let go of Jessie and watched in amusement as Hermione pulled her along by her ear, eliciting small gasps of pain from the girl.
“This is wrong!” Jessie yelped as she was pulled along. “I demand you to let go of my ear right now!” She tried to pull away, but it just made Hermione twist her ear more painfully. “What will people think when they pass us?!” she moaned. “You’re embarrassing me!”
“Stop complaining,” Hermione said. “If you continue to struggle like that, I’ll make sure you get humiliated in front of everybody. Now, come on!”
Bob watched them walk away in bewilderment, wondering what on earth was happening. “What’s up with those two,” he asked Draco, scratching his head in confusion.
“I don’t know, but I sure don’t want to miss out on the action,” Draco replied happily, rubbing his hands in anticipation. Smirking, he said a quick good-bye to Bob and trailed after the two witches; quietly laughing to himself as he listened to them bicker. It really was a sight to see. Hermione pulling Jessie by the ear, while the other was trying to keep up with her pace, ordering her captor to let go of her “ it was something Draco wouldn’t be able to forget.
“Yeah, see you,” Bob muttered absent-mindedly, slowly taking in his surroundings. He couldn’t remember the reason why he had come here “ heck, he didn’t even know how he had ended up here in the first place! “Brilliant…” he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. He nearly got his jaw broken and suffers from some memory loss, while the girl got by without a scratch “ “What are the odds,” he said, taking a good look of his surroundings. Shrugging, he turned around and walked in the opposite direction, wondering what the other guy had meant by missing out on the ‘action’. If it’s anything between Hermione and the other girl, he thought to himself, remembering Hermione pulling the girl by her ear, that girl needs all the luck she can get.
“So, you mean to tell me that Jessie used magic to get to Draco?” Violet demanded, a hint of doubt showing on her face. She and the boys had been on their way back to their rooms, when they had spotted Draco, Hermione and Jessie. The guys had pointed and laughed as they watched Jessie getting pulled by her ear, but immediately became silent as they saw the murderous look in her eyes. They had walked towards the three of them and had asked what had happened, but Hermione refused to tell them anything until they had gotten inside Jessie’s room.
“That’s right,” Hermione answered, folding her arms across her chest and looking over at Jessie. “She did all that to get Draco’s attention.”
Roger nudged Draco lightly and wiggled his eyebrows. “Why, aren’t you the chick magnet!” he laughed, causing Draco to shake his head in amusement. “Jessie usually doesn’t go this far to get a guy she really likes. You must have something going on for you,” he said, giving Draco a friendly thump on the back.
“Look, first of all, I’m not sure whether Jessie really did this,” Violet said, looking at all of them. “I mean, she’s never done this before! As attractive as you are, Draco, I don’t think she’d go that far.”
“Why, thank you, Violet,” Draco said, bowing slightly; a small smirk resting on his lips, “I’m glad you find me good-looking as well.”
“Does everyone suddenly want to inflate his already large enough ego or something?!” Hermione asked in disbelief, rolling her eyes at Draco’s arrogance. “Honestly…!”
“What I mean to say is that you don’t really have any proof that Jessie is behind all this,” Violet explained. “And I think that’s unfair for Jessie.”
“You tell them, Vy,” Jessie said encouragingly, sitting up a little straighter. “You go on and tell them how unfair it is to accuse someone without any proof.”
“Oh, we have proof,” Hermione said testily. “Don’t we, Draco?”
“Oh yeah,” he assured, flopping himself onto one of the couches. “And it’s in one of my pockets back in my room.”
“You have proof?!” Jessie yelped in surprise, sitting bolt-right up on her bed.
“In your pocket?” Violet asked questioningly, walking over to where Draco was sitting.
“It’s still in your pocket?!” Hermione exploded, throwing her arms up in the air in disbelief.
“Just calm down, everyone,” Alex said loudly, immediately gaining their attention. “We’re not going to get anywhere if we keep arguing like this.”
“Alex is right,” Roger added, motioning for everyone to sit down. “We won’t get this sorted out if we continue this way.” He faced Hermione and Draco and said, “Now, tell us what happened from the beginning.”
Hermione sighed and sat down next to Draco, still a little disgruntled by the fact that he had just left the Amorodor in his jeans. However, once she had gained their undivided attention, she began to tell them what had happened. She told them about Amorodor and how Jessie had screamed when she couldn’t find her perfume, about her actions and what she had done to Bob… It took nearly an hour to explain everything. In the end however, both Draco and Hermione had been able to convince Violet, Roger and Alex that Jessie had been behind all of it.
Jessie, who had been sitting there the whole time, tried to disrupt their conversation; trying her best to make sure that her friends couldn’t hear what Hermione was saying. She had denied everything in the end, of course, but it was too late by then “ she had lost her friends’ trust.
“Alright, fine!” Jessie said angrily, finally giving up. “I did it. I did all of that, happy?”
“No, we’re not,” Violet snapped, glaring at her friend. “How could you do that?”
“You did all that to get Draco to like you?!” Roger asked incredulously, looking at her as if she had completely lost her mind. “Merlin, Jessie, what’s wrong with you?”
“Okay, this is getting awkward for me and for her,” Draco said quickly. “The point is that anything like this shouldn’t happen again…to anyone … ever.”
“You’re right,” Violet agreed, resting her hands on her hips. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Jessie!”
“Oh, I will,” Jessie said furiously. “You guys are supposed to be my friends!”
“And Hermione and Draco are supposed to be yours!” Violet shot back.
“Look, you guys,” Hermione said slowly, “the topic’s over now. I just want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again while we’re on the cruise.” She looked solemnly at Violet and the guys and said, “I’m sorry about all this. I don’t want this to ruin your friendship with Jessie or anything like that.”
“Are you crazy?” Alex said, giving her a smile. “She can’t get rid of us that easily. We’ve known each other since our school days. We know how to handle her.” He put an arm around Hermione in a comforting way and looked over at Jessie. “Heard that, Jess? You can’t get rid of us that easily, nor the other way around.”
“Oh, sod off, Alex,” Jessie grumbled.
“So what do you propose we do to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Violet said sternly.
“Well…” Hermione started. “I thought it would be a good idea to take all her potions and other magical artefacts from her for a while -just until we get off the cruise.”
“WHAT?!” Jessie screamed in horror. “No way! You can’t do that!”
“I agree with Hermione,” Violet said smoothly. “It’s the only way to make sure you won’t do anything stupid.” She walked over to Jessie and whispered angrily, “And I’ll be taking care of your wand for a while.”
After an hour of thoroughly searching her room, Hermione, Violet and the boys found several different kinds of potion bottles, spiked chocolates, spell books and other sorts of magical equipment stashed underneath her bed, in her drawers and in her cupboards. Jessie screamed and tried to snatch them away of course, but failed miserably. They had to put a silencing charm on her and had to bind her to a chair in order to keep her out of the way.
Once they had collected everything and had put them in a bag, Violet used Jessie’s wand to tie the bag up. She slung the bag over her shoulder, stuffed the wand in her pocket and marched out of the room; glaring at Jessie on the way out. “I’ll see you guys later,” she said and closed the door after her.
Roger sighed and did a counter-spell on Jessie; shaking his head as she yelled at them once the silencing charm had worn off. “Jessie, you’ve already upset Violet by hiding all this stuff from her and betraying her trust. It’s your fault in the first place, so stop yelling.”
“Are Laura and Terry in this as well?” Alex asked, trying to stop her from screaming.
“I’m not telling you anything!” Jessie snapped. She ran over to her bed and flopped on to it, burying her face into her pillow. “I never want to see you guys again!”
Hermione looked at Roger in concern, but he smiled and said, “She’ll get over it soon. Don’t worry about it. But I think we should leave her alone for a while.”
“Yes,” Hermione agreed, nodding her head slowly. “We should let her think about what she’s done.”
“Yeah right,” Draco muttered. “All she’ll be thinking about is what you’ve done to her.”
“Come on,” Alex laughed, opening the door for them. “Let her be.” He smiled at Hermione and gestured for her to go out first. “After you.”
Draco threw open his balcony door and sighed in relief as a salty breeze blew against his face. The sound of waves splashing against the ship and the warm rays of sunlight caressing his face immediately made him feel at ease. He lazily unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, kicking off his shoes in the process before getting on the hammock “ groaning in pleasure as he lay down; stretching his arms behind his head. “This is the life…” he mumbled to himself as he closed his eyes; enjoying the feel of the sunrays on his skin.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Draco didn’t bother to move. He had heard Hermione opening the door to her balcony, so it had only been a matter of time before she noticed him on his hammock. “I’m tanning,” Draco replied with a hint of amusement. “Want to join me or something?”
Hermione blushed, taking her eyes off his chest. “I think I’ll pass on that,” she replied quickly, sitting down on her own hammock. “I’ve got better things to do.”
Draco opened his eyes and watched as she laid back, opening up a book and starting to read as if it were the most interesting thing on the planet. “You’d rather read?!” he asked, lifting his head up slightly.
“Yes, I would,” she said, looking up from her book for a moment. “And I’d appreciate it if you’d burn yourself in silence.”
“Fine,” Draco grunted. “Stick your nose back in that book of yours and have the time of your life.”
“Oh, hold on,” Hermione said suddenly, closing her book with a small thud. “Are you going to the Ball tomorrow?”
“The what?”
“The Ball, Draco. The one to which we’re all invited.”
“There’s no Ball tomorrow, woman. Go back to your reading.”
“Fine,” Hermione snapped. “Act like an ignorant fool and don’t show up tomorrow night.”
Draco sat up and gave her a what-in-the-world-are-you-talking-about sort of look. “What in Merlin’s beard is happening tomorrow night?!” he asked incredulously. “If there was something going on, they’d probably hand out invitations or something. Do I look like I’ve got one to you?!”
“It looks like you haven’t seen the invitation laid on top of your bed,” Hermione scoffed, once more opening her book and hiding behind it. “Ignorant little ferret,” she mumbled to herself
Draco groaned and reluctantly got off his hammock, making his way into his room to find the so-called invitation. He walked over to his bed and spotted a white envelope neatly placed on top of his pillow, a sprinkle of red rose petals surrounding the invitation. He sat down on the bed and gently picked it up, opening it to find a card the colour of red roses within the envelope itself. Sighing, he pulled out the card and began to read what the beautiful cursive letters spelled out.
Dear Guest,
Due to tomorrow being your final night on board this ship, we are hosting a Ball tomorrow evening in celebration of your farewell. It will be an evening that you will not be able to forget and we would very much appreciate it if you should attend.
Dinner, Desert and Dancing are all included tomorrow evening, so pick out your best suit/gown and join us at the main ballroom from 20:00 onwards!
We hope you have enjoyed your stay here with us and hope to see you again soon.
Sincerely,
Captain and the Cabin Crew
“Well, well, well,” Draco muttered, a smirk playing on his lips. “Looks like I’ve got to find myself a date.”
For Hermione, time had passed quickly. She had finished half of her book, had gone swimming with Violet and had even gone to check out the mini theatre with Jake and Roger. She had been so awed by the thought of a theatre on a ship that she couldn’t resist not watching a movie for the thrill sake.
Once the movie had finished, Hermione bid the boys good-bye and headed over to the main deck, wanting to have a moment to herself, not really in the mood to go back to her room just yet. She walked till the end of the deck and grasped the cool, metal railing; closing her eyes as a slight breeze washed over her, causing her to sigh out in pleasure. Her eyes fluttered back open and she silently watched as the sky turned orangey-red; the sun had already gone beyond the horizon, giving the blue ocean a slight tinge of red. The view before her was absolutely breath-taking and she was glad hat she was able to witness it.
“Hey.”
Hermione swirled around in surprise. She hadn’t heard anyone coming up to her and so she gasped as her eyes locked with a pair of silver-gray ones. Draco gave her a weird look and went to stand next to her, chuckling slightly as Hermione muttered a small, “Hey.”
“What are you doing?” he asked, staring out into the ocean; his fringe delicately swaying against the wind.
“Just looking,” Hermione replied, crossing her arms across her chest. “It feels brilliant just to stand here like this.”
Draco looked at her from the corner of his eye; watching quietly as she looked up at the sky “ a small smile resting on her lips. She looked…pretty, Draco had to admit. There was something about her that attracted him and to his amazement; he was very much willing to learn more about her. But the very thought of getting attracted to someone such as her frightened him. He didn’t know why he felt that way “ he hadn’t felt like that when he had been with other girls. But then again, Hermione wasn’t like any of the other girls.
“I’m sorry.”
Hermione’s eyebrows shot up and she looked at him questioningly; not trusting herself to believe what she had just heard. “What?”
“You know, about what happened earlier today,” Draco said, unable to look at her directly. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. It wasn’t really your fault all that happened.”
Hermione tried to catch his eye, but soon gave up. “I’m glad you said that,” she said smiling. “I was hurt by what you had said, but you saying sorry kind of makes up for it.”
“I’m not going all soft on you, you know,” Draco said quickly, not wanting to sound like some idiotic pansy. “So don’t expect me to be any different from before.”
Hermione laughed. “Saying you’re sorry doesn’t mean you’re going soft,” she chortled, shaking her head at him. “And I know you’ll always be an arrogant jerk.” Smiling, she nudged him slightly, making him turn around to look at her. “Does that make you feel better?”
“Oh, a whole lot better,” he said, smiling at the girl before him. “You’ve just made my day.”
“Funny,” she said quietly, focusing her gaze back on to the ocean. “I’d never even imagined me, Hermione Granger, making Draco Malfoy’s day a little more cheerful.”
“Oh, but you can make it even more,” Draco said, slowly turning her around so that she was looking into his eyes intently. “All you need to say is ‘yes’.”
Hermione cocked her head to the side; brows furrowed and eyes twinkling with interest. “Yes to what exactly?”
Without another word, Draco slowly pulled out the most beautiful red rose Hermione had ever seen from his jacket pocket; a rose which was in full bloom, its petals the colour of deep red wine. Hermione was struck by its brilliance and was rendered speechless as Draco held it up in front of her; calmly waiting for her to take it in between her fingers.
Her heart thudded against her chest and she could feel a blush creep onto her cheeks as she stared at the rose. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever been given and she wondered why he was giving it to her in the first place. “Draco, I -”
“I was wondering if you’d escort me to the Ball tomorrow evening,” he said dashingly, gesturing for her to take the rose. “And I’m not used to being rejected, so…”
Hermione had to laugh. The atmosphere Draco had created was so perfect, so romantic that she didn’t know what else to do but gently take the flower from him with trembling fingers. He was such an arrogant fool, but charming nevertheless and at that very moment, Hermione realized her feelings for him. She couldn’t yet truly admit them to herself just yet, but she knew they were there.
“This time,” she said, twirling the rose between her fingers and smiling up at him, “don’t keep me waiting.”
A/N:
Hey you guys! Hello, hello! =D My school and exams are finally over so you can expect updates more and more often from now on! I know it took a a long time for this chapter to get updated, but I didn't want to rush things - quality is much more important *winks* Now, I'm sure a whole lot of you are disappointed with Hermione's so called 'revenge'...she didn't do much! But, I PROMISE to add more of that stuff in the next chapter. I can't make Hermione do something really cruel, but i've got some fantastic suggestions that I intend to use in chapter 21 =D I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter (my longest one yet *giggle*) And thanks you all SO much for your suggestions (i've used some of them here) and I promise to add more in the next =D xxooxx