A Future Uncertain

Chapter 2: Not an Actress

Hermione looked away for a moment with her eye brows knitted together. There was something she wasn't remembering. Draco took the opportunity to snatch her wand from her hand. Hermione dropped her arm. Fight or flight kicked in, and she decided to fight. Her fist had almost collided with his chin when his arm blocked the attack. He pulled her body forcibly to his to thwart another attack. Hermione struggled, trying to escape from his grasp, but he wouldn't let go.

"If you want me to let go you are going to have to calm down," he hissed. Like devils snare, she thought, just play dead, and he will let you live. Hermione wondered is sunlight affected him in a similar way. He's so pale I wouldn't be surprised.

She stopped struggling and his embrace loosened, his gaze lowering to hers. His hands shifted, now resting on her shoulders. He gave her a light squeeze. "Hermione please, what has gotten into you?"

Hermione realized her mistake just a few minutes too late. She had forgotten this wasn't her world, and now her next three days would be spent in the loony bin.

Oh no.

Hermione looked left and right, trying to recall the layout of the room. She needed to access the situation and come up with a plan. She needed time for that. Time, she knew, Malfoy wasn't going to let her have. Hermione threw her arms between his and pushed outward, removing his hands from her shoulders. Without waiting another moment she sprinted to the bedroom, locked herself in, and threw herself on the bed.

That was not the bravest thing Hermione could have done, but she really did need to think of a plan. It was essential if she wanted to keep her freedom until she could get back to real time. She flipped onto her back, now staring at the ceiling emptily with her arms resting casually by her side. Hermione replayed the conversation in her head countless times without coming up with a solution to make the situation better. After a few minutes it occurred to her, "I could just lie." Sure, it's not something that she would usually do, but desperate times...

Hermione could blame it on post-war stress, but that would surely include one to many trips to doctors. She needed an excuse that was plausible, yet not enough to get her locked away before she could experience her future.

After playing out a few different scenarios in her mind she decided the best way to fix this was to walk right out the room and tell Malfoy it was all a joke. A not very funny joke, but she could just say that she was practicing her acting skills. No explanation, rhyme or reason to her acting, she just wanted to see if she had good acting skills. It was a pretty far stretch to be believable, but she had to try something.

Hermione stood, pulled her shirt down to where it would rest naturally, and walked to the door leading to the living room. She stood in front of the mirror hanging on the door. Hermione studied her appearance. She looked slightly older, mid-twenties she guessed, like Draco. Although she didn't think she looked much different, she noticed she looked womanly, more feminine. She had slightly more curves now, her breasts were now at least a b-cup. She had gained at least one stone over the past few years. Her hair was still bushy, but not unkempt, and was now a lighter brown. Looks like future-Hermione had learned a few beauty spells, she thought appreciatively. After a few more seconds of staring at herself in the mirror for assurance, she nodded at the reflection and opened the door.

Hermione stole a peak around the door before tentatively stepping into the room.

Draco was sitting on a chair in the living room with his back hunched over. He looked distraught. His legs were spread wide with his elbows resting on his knees, and his hands were covering his face as if to attempt to shield himself from reality. The floorboards squeaked lightly underneath her feet, until she stood in front of him.

"D-Draco?" she stuttered, the words feeling unfamiliar on her lips, but she assured herself it was a good way to gain his trust.

At his name he spread his fingers, his eyes showing no emotion, he peered at her through the space between his fingers and waited for her to speak.

Hermione cleared her throat and looked out the window behind him. "I was just kidding. You know that right?" She looked back at him, but his eyes still watching her expressionlessly. She gazed out the window once more, "Before, when I yelled at you, it was just a joke."

After a few moments with no response Hermione looked back at Draco. He had dropped his hands from his face and they were now clasped together in front of him with his elbows still resting on his knees. His mouth opened as if to yell for a moment, but last minute had decided against it. She started to shift nervously under his scrutiny, and her eyes moved to look at the floor.

"Why are you lying to me?" he inquired. He looked like he was trying to solve a particularly difficult equation rather than trying to understand why Hermione was acting like a nutter.

"I-I'm not, Draco it was just act-"

"Don't you dare lie to me! Don't you dare say it was a joke! I know you. You can't stand to look at people when you lie to them because it makes you uncomfortable seeing them believe your dishonesty. And this is what you decide your first lie to me should be? And for what? You may need help, Hermione. You- you might need help that I alone can't provide. How can you stand in front of me and lie about something so serious!?"

He had stood up somewhere during his outburst, and his tall, slender form was now towering over her. Hermione refused to be intimidated, with or without her wand. "Listen here, Malfoy," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes while jabbing her finger at Draco's chest. "I. am. not. lying."

Ignoring her assault, his thin lips twitched while snorting lightly and rolling his eyes. He thought it sounded like she was starting to believe her own lies. 'Five years of honesty down the drain,' he thought, shaking his head a few times while looking at the floor. Lifting his eyes slowly to hers he repeated her words from earlier, "Malfoy, huh?"

Her eyes grew wide, realizing her slip up. He laughed humorlessly at her reaction and ran his hands through his hair.

Shite! I did say I was a terrible actress, right?

"Well, Granger," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "We can do this one of two ways. You tell me the truth, or I will use Veritaserum." He shrugged his shoulders and folded his hands in front of him, "It's your choice."

This is a nightmare.

Muggle? Fine.

Stranger? Sure.

Malfoy? Never!

What kind of sick spell was this? Was she really going to be trapped with Malfoy for three days? She wanted to vomit. When I get back to reality I am going to hex Ron for this! Hermione sat on the couch across from the chair Draco had been sitting in earlier.

"I can't trust you," she whispered, defeated, with her hands covering her face similarly to how Draco had when she had first walked in. She felt the cushion next to her dip as he sat down.

He lightly grasped her hands and removed them from her face. Hermione looked into his eyes. They didn't make her uncomfortable like she had thought they would. If it were even possible they reassured her she wouldn't be alone.

"I love you, Hermione."

Hermione looked away. His eyes told her he wasn't lying. It seemed so impossible that she could have fallen in love with Draco in her future.

He waited until she turned back to face him. "You can trust me with anything."

She couldn't believe she was even thinking it, but he seemed like he really cared. Maybe she could trust him. However making him listen to her about why she's behaving this way was a completely different story. She absently looked around the room. After a few seconds Hermione decided it would probably make things easier if she told him the truth, on the off-chance he believed her. Maybe telling the truth would help her to better understand this future.

A future that had her in a relationship with Draco sodding Malfoy, Slytherin sex god, tormentor of her childhood, and monster to all that is different from him.

Hermione let out a short, jagged breath. "Well, it all started with a relatively new divination spell."