Timeless

Chapter 32

Present Time: June 2004 / Draco's Time: Same as present

Draco Malfoy

Draco must have time jumped while he was asleep, because when he woke up the next morning, he wasn't in the bed at the ski chalet in Switzerland, where he'd fallen asleep, but in the spare bedroom at the London house. It took him a moment to realize he was back in his time.

Hermione was standing at the edge of his bed, beaming at him. "Happy Birthday!" She motioned toward a tray of food on the bedside table and he saw it was his favorite: sausage, a scone, and a large black coffee. But he ignored the food for now and pulled Hermione onto the bed with him and started kissing her.

"I'm so glad to be back," he said between kisses. "I had an awful birthday."

Hermione pushed back and took a seat on his lap. "You didn't have fun with your ex-girlfriend?" she teased.

"Not at all. I pretended to have a very contagious cold, but she still came by every few hours with soup or tea or just some encouraging words. I forgot how needy she used to be. But to be fair, it's probably because she knew on some level, I was in love with someone else."

Hermione smiled at that. "Yes, she sounds so awful," she said sarcastically.

"I know. Doesn't she know that when I'm sick, I prefer when the woman I love tells me to just take some Pepper-up Potion and get over it?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Or that I especially love when she tells me that just because I'm sick doesn't mean I don't have to do my chores."

He could tell Hermione was trying hard to look stern and not laugh, so he poked her side until he finally got her to smile.

"Anyway," Hermione seemed eager to change the subject, "I'm going to make it up to you today." She picked up the tray of food and set it on Draco's lap. Then she tore a corner off the scone and ate it.

Draco started sipping on the coffee and watched Hermione, looking for any signs of sadness, but she seemed to be guarding her emotions. "How was I?" He studied her reaction but couldn't pick anything up from her face. That was concerning.

"Tell me," he pressed, and his heart dropped as he watched her plaster a smile on her face.

"I'm sure you remember, you were fine, just incredibly tense. Theo knew in an instant, but luckily Daphne and Blaise were distracted and Ginny was tired."

That wasn't what he meant. He didn't care about their friends' reactions, he was curious about hers, but he could tell she wasn't going to say more.

"Oh, that reminds me though," she was smiling now. "You read Robinson Crusoe for the first time."

He smiled back at her.

"So, it turns out you're not as thick as you originally appeared when you asked me how Muggles traveled." She paused to shake her head. "Are there other jokes you planted earlier on that are going to play out in a few months?"

He shrugged., "You'll just have to see, won't you?"

"Well it was brilliant, I was laughing about it all night."

"Wait," Draco cut in, remembering that day. "That's when you told me Crookshanks preferred Weasley! I'd almost forgotten that it was you who told me that. I've been telling you that for a year now and you've been making me think I was crazy, but you're the one who put it in my head!"

She was laughing hard now and he couldn't help but join her. "Did you make that up?"

She nodded. "I thought of saying it because of all your conspiracy theories about those two. But Crookshanks doesn't prefer Ron, he hates both of you equally."