Day Fourteen
Eyelids fluttering, Hermione opens her eyes and blinks several times to adjust to the bright sunlight. Rolling onto her back, she turns towards her left and finds Theo sleeping with his mouth open and his legs tangled. A sort of laugh escapes her lips and she rolls her eyes.
Her smile disappears as she turns towards her right. Malfoy's face is inches away from her own. His pale skin even paler, his hair shining like silver and his expression of peace. He looks elegant, she thinks. Her eyes roam over his face as she memorises every curve and dip of his face.
Her heart is heavy in her chest, because this is the first time in two weeks that he has slept next to her. She feels protected as she looks at the two men lying beside her. A smile graces her lips and she sits upright. Folding up her blanket, she grabs a water bottle, her tooth brush and a tube of toothpaste, and walks towards rocks.
As she gargles and spits the water out of her mouth, she feels the warm sun kissing her skin, and she knows that something has changed.
Perhaps in her own heart...
°•○
"He's missing her," Malfoy says, pointing towards a dull looking Theo walking ahead of them.
"Who? Luna?" Hermione asks, her eyes narrowed due to curiosity.
Malfoy snorts," Yes, loony".
Hermione pinches his arm; hard. "She isn't loony!"
" Oh yeah? But I thought I heard that you introduced her to Potter as Loony Lovegood?"
Her cheeks flame as she prepares herself to look at the smug face of Malfoy, but instead, she finds him smirking- a friendly smirk.
Yes, something has definitely changed.
"Who told you that?" She asks.
" You wouldn't believe me" he smirks again.
Her eyes narrow. " Who was it?" She demands.
" Longbottom" he smirks again.
" Ha ha very funny," she says dryly.
Malfoy shrugs his shoulders in return.
Hermione clears her throat and asks the only one thing on her mind.
" Don't you miss her?" Surprisingly, her voice doesn't waver.
Malfoy's brow hikes up as he asks,"who?"
"Parkinson," she says and looks ahead to avoid eye contact, her mouth dry.
Malfoy chuckles softly. A sound that warms her heart and kisses her soul.
Why were these feelings coming back?
He looks at her then, his neck tilted towards her.
" I do....I do miss her actually."
The words hurt her more than they should have, and she forces a smile onto her face as she calls out Theo's name.
Day Fifteen
"We've been walking for two freaking hours, Granger! Give it a rest before I faint," Theo yells.
"No," she pants. " I have a feeling we're close."
"Close to what, for fuck's sake?!"
"The answer to our clue."
"Oh mighty Granger. Pray tell what the answer to our clue is!"
She turns her head to glare at him and he glares right back her. They're both surprised to hear Malfoy chuckling, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and his lips stretching into the most delici- devilish smile.
" It's good to see that no one gets along with you, Granger" he smirks at her.
Hermione is even more surprised than him when she discovers the huge smile on her face.
Theo looks away awkwardly, his hands finding their way into the pockets of his pants.
Malfoy continues to look at her, the silver in his eyes shining extra bright. She finds her own eyes melting into the molten silver of his'. He swallows and his throat bobs up and down. Hermione's eyes travel from his eyes to his lips, and the spell is broken as a hen, out of nowhere, runs past them.
Theo yells out in triumph and takes off after the hen. Hermione and Malfoy look at each other, a knowing glint in both their eyes. Their lips stretch into matching grins as they, too, run after the hen.
After a series of hopping over fallen logs, and strings of curses, Theo finally catches the chicken. " You ugly beast, you fucking made me run miles after you?"
" Hey! Don't squeeze her, Theo. You'll hurt her," Hermione scolds.
Malfoy cranes his neck to look at her, an unreadable expression on his face.
" How do you know it's a she?" Theo asks and loosens his hold on the hen.
" Common sense, and also because she's carrying an egg."
" An egg? Really, Granger?"
"Yes, see- right there"
Hermione points towards the white shell peeking through red feathers.
Theo makes to grab it, but is instead pricked in the hand by the mother.
" Fuck," he swears and squeezes the hen's neck.
" Theo!" Hermione yells and carefully takes the hen away from him.
Placing her on the ground, she gently pets the hen on the head. Malfoy watches her with curious eyes and Theo constantly rolls his'.
The hen gently lowers the egg and places it on the ground, along with a few red feathers and Hermione's eyes widen.
This wasn't just any hen.
"She's a magical hen!" She exclaims.
" 10 points to Gryffindor", Malfoy drawls. "It lives in the Magical world, Granger, of course it's magical."
"She, Malfoy... she" she corrects him.
" May I keep this?" Hermione lifts up the egg with the feathers and asks the mother.
The hen nods it's approval and walks away, pricking Theo's leg on the way.
"What the actual fuck, Granger? Why did she walk away like a damn boss? Why did we let her go?" He pulls at his hair.
Hermione lifts up the egg, "Because she gave us the answer to our clue."
" An egg?" Malfoy asks.
" Yes!" Hermione grins.
"I have to be broken down before I'm of use- that's right! It's an egg!" Theo yells, his face lighting up.
" Ready?" Hermione asks.
" Yes!" Theo yells as he grabs his bag, and when he reaches out to grab Hermione's bag from the ground, Malfoy grabs it first and tosses it over his shoulder. Theo smirks privately and stands up straight. " Let's go!"
The three of them prepare themselves, but nothing happens as they remove the feathers and touch the shell of the egg.
"Fuck!" Theo swears.
Malfoy frowns and grabs the egg from her. Cracking the shell, his frown deepens as a silver mist emerges from the egg and envelopes them all.
When they open their eyes again, they're in a town.
The buildings were an amazing jumble of different styles: rickety wooden shops, marble and brick houses, huge stone churches. The different colours of the houses remind Hermione of her toy room as she scrambles to her feet and dusts herself off.
"Where the hell are we?" Theo asks as he, too, stands up.
Malfoy looks confused, his eyes narrowed.
Hermione thinks about telling them, but then stops when she realises who they were. Part of the sacred twenty eight standing in a muggle town. Well done, McGonagall.
" Where's the clue?" She asks, and Malfoy's eyes narrow even more- this time, at her.
Theo picks up the fallen envelope from the ground and holds it out for her. She rips it open and begins to read.
Has a tongue, but never talks. Has no legs, but sometimes walks.
" What would have a tongue and never talk, for fuck's sake? " Malfoy curses.
" Is that you, Drakie?" Theo teases.
Hermione laughs, the sound tickles Malfoy's ears and he turns around to face her.
She sobers up immediately, her mouth pressed into a thin line.
Theo yelps and turns around. " What the fuck is that?" He asks, pointing towards a donkey far away.
Hermione looks confusedly at the poor animal. " It's a donkey, Theo".
" What?" Theo straight out yells.
Malfoy is staring at her too.
"A donkey," she confirms with a nod of her head.
" Shove it, Granger. We all know donkeys are fictional animals, " Malfoy drawls.
" What? No, donkeys are real." She fires back, now genuinely confused.
" No, they cannot be real!" Theo screeches.
" Why are you yelling, Theo?" She yells back.
" Because I've freaking wanted a donkey since I was seven and my parents always said that donkeys didn't exist and now it's fucking standing in front of me!" He yells again.
" But donkeys are real. It's right in front of you" She argues.
" Have you ever seen a donkey in the Wizarding World?- apart from weaselbee, that is" Malfoy interjects.
Hermione roles her eyes at his silly attempt at humour and ponders upon his question.
"No, I haven't. "
Realisation dawns on Malfoy's face.
"This is the muggle world," he exhales.
Theo's eyes, that were fixated on the donkey, now widen.
" Muggle world?" He repeats.
Hermione swallows.
" Yes, this is a muggle town," she says, thanking God when her voice remains stable.
She really didn't want them to freak out and go back to the prejudiced gits that they were.
"Then where the fuck are the muggles?" Theo asks.
Hermione raises her wrist and takes a look at her watch. It was 2 in the morning, and here they were, screaming like banshees.
"It's 2 am, Theo. They're all probably asleep"
" You knew," Malfoy accuses.
Hermione looks at him then, her eyebrows rising in a silent question.
"You knew we were sent to a muggle town as soon as you opened your eyes," his eyes narrow, the silver glinting brighter than it ever has- at least that's what she thinks.
" Of course I knew," she feigns nonchalance, waving her hand dismissively.
" Then why didn't you tell Theo when he asked you where we were?"
Damn you, Malfoy.
Hermione takes a deep breath, preparing to fire a lie, but Malfoy interrupts her," Don't fucking lie to me, Granger"
And she's suddenly scared. Was she that readable?
" Look, I just didn't want you to freak out" She explains.
And his question throws her off as he asks,"me or us?" He points towards Theo.
"Mainly you" She leans away from him.
His jaw clenches and he looks away.
She feels bad then, her eyes dropping to the floor.
Theo is still staring at the donkey with wonder in his eyes.
Day Sixteen
Rolling onto her side, Hermione covers a yawn as she tries to open her eyes. They had fallen asleep on the pavement, in their conjured sleeping bags. Blinking away the sleep, she finally opens her eyes and stifles a gasp as she sits upright.
All sorts of types of people are standing around them, shielding them from the morning sun. She chances a glance towards the boys, and thankfully, they're asleep.
"Are you alright, dears?" An old woman steps up from the crowd, her face kind.
Hermione rubs her eyes. " Er...we got lost."
The old woman smiles at her and motions a boy forward.
He's tall and slim, she notices, as he steps into view. His skin is soft beige, kissed by the sun. His shoulders are broad, his hair brown and messy. His cheekbones are sharp and defined, his chin pointy. He's handsome.
"Please take them to the guesthouse, Xavier" the old woman says.
Xavier smiles at her and she finds herself smiling back.
Just then, "AHHHHH!!" Theo yells. "Muggles. Fucking muggles and so many of them. Drake they're going to kill us!" He begins to shake Malfoy who sits upright and pulls out his wand, pointing it at the crowd.
" Theo, Malfoy!" She warns.
They both turn their eyes on her, both promising painful revenge.
" Oh dearie, what's that? A piece of wood?" A man says with a laugh.
"I'll fucking-" Theo begins but Hermione cuts him off. " Theo!"
" Granger" Malfoy hisses.
" Please show us the guesthouse, Xavier" she requests the confused boy.
He nods. " follow me," he says.
Hermione glares at Malfoy and Theo, silently assuring them that she knew what she was doing.
The three of them follow the handsome lad and walk into a tiny house. The dust almost chokes Hermione as she inhales deeply, expecting it to smell like home.
" We'll take it from here, thank you" she says.
Xavier nods and leaves the house, clicking the door shut.
"What the fuck was that? Would you mind explaining it to us?"
She sighs as she drops down on the couch. " Listen, I woke up to that crowd. I did not, by any means, invite them to look at the sleeping trio. We were sleeping on the pavement for God's sake! They were meant to come and check on us."
" Fucking weird tosser" Malfoy grumbles.
" Excuse me?" She asks incredulously.
" They just helped us and you're cursing them?"
"We didn't fucking ask for their help!" He replies hotly.
" Oh really? Newsflash, Malfoy, these muggles have more feelings than you'll ever do. At least they didn't kill us like you would have, had they stumbled upon your mighty manor."
Malfoy's face turns red from rage.
" Now you're taking it too far, Granger" Theo interrupts.
" I'm taking it far? Look at the gall of him to speak shit about them just because they're muggles!"
"You fucking shut your mouth right now, Granger" Malfoy hisses
"And what if I dont? Because I'm done with your Pureblood crap!"
" Pureblood?" He snarls.
" Granger," Theo warns.
"Why don't you get it, Malfoy? We're all the same! They just don't have magic, but they do have souls! "
"Get out of my face, Granger," he sneers at her.
" No, I will not, " she sniffs. "At least not till you admit that you're wrong."
"I didn't say shit to you. I didn't even mention blood. You brought it up"
"Yes, because you were being rude to Xavier- and that too just because he's a muggle!"
" Fucking Xavier" he snarls, grabs his bag and walks towards the room, farthest from where she standing.
"You took it too far, Granger, " Theo sighs.
Hermione snorts in response and opens her mouth to speak, but Theo cuts her off.
"No- don't speak. Try to understand, Granger. We're not used to waking up to a crowd of people dressed in weird clothes and staring down at us. We freaked out! That's it!" He explains. "It's not about their blood, Granger. It's not about anyone's blood anymore. Haven't you figured that out after living with us for two weeks?" He runs a hand through his hair.
Hermione is struck speechless. "Then.....then why did he react so rudely towards Xavier?"
Theo opens his mouth to speak, but then shuts it tight, pressing his lips into a thin line.
"That's for you to figure out, Granger," he says before he leaves her alone with her thoughts.
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