Probable Reaction

Chapter Three

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In which Hermione gets a letter from an old friend, Draco manages to insult children, Pansy mopes about and eats some sour, yet incredibly plot moving, chocolate, Narcissa has a tizzy fit and Draco's Portkey comes in handy.

***

"You are such a goddamn bastard Draco Malfoy! I don't ever want to talk to you again!"

Hermione rolled over onto her back, her head lying on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. It took her a minute to remember why she was there and why there were pillows pressed over her ears. Another of Pansy's outbursts made her remember.

After she had gotten back from her walk last night, Pansy had still been shouting herself hoarse at Draco, who was cowering in the corner. It amazed Hermione that he could be so... not evil when around Pansy. In fact, it made her laugh.

But she didn't laugh for long. It ended about the time she realized they weren't leaving. She doubted either of them had a room of their own, and instead of getting herself into that mess, she had just slept in the bathroom. It wasn't very comfortable.

"Pansy, I have no idea what our trip to Japan has to do with any of this! I'm sorry if I didn't get you that flower you wanted, but you shouldn't care about such small matters!"

There was a smacking noise, then cold silence. Hermione pressed an ear to the door, half expecting the sounds of Draco crying. There was nothing. All of a sudden, she felt the door being thrown open. Her head was thrown against the wall.

"Oww!!!" She curled up and tucked her head under her arms, hoping that the stinging in her ear would go away. The person who had opened it only sniffed loudly and busied themselves in the cabinet above the sink. After a minute, she looked up to see a distraught Draco.

"I don't care what she thinks... I hate her... Where is that washrag?" Hermione watched him digging for a moment before kicking him in the shin. He crumpled to the ground, holding his leg. Now that he was facing her, a frown on his face, she could tell that he had indeed been crying. "What was that for?"

"For banging my head against the wall, you bastard."

Draco glared at her for a minute, then turned quickly away. Hermione closed the door, not wanting to give Pansy, who had apparently been very vicious with her remarks, the satisfaction of seeing Draco Malfoy cry. This was the only time she herself would ever get to see it, and Hermione wanted it all to herself. That was mean, but just remember who this is in front of you... Malfoy, the boy who's made you cry countless times.

"I'm sorry for kicking you." She had never seen a boy cry, and was very inexperienced in dealing with it. He didn't look up, only sniffed even louder than before. "And about whatever she said. You two sounded like you were really going at it."

"It isn't what she said. I could care less, really. It's just that she's going to tell my mother." Hermione didn't know why that was bad, but she nodded anyway. Not that he could have seen her do it. "My parents will already be mad when they find out I'm not in Egypt. I also don't need to hear about being mean to Pansy..."

"Why don't you just tell them that you don't want to be with her?"

"Granger, you think I already haven't thought of that? You are about as smart as I give you credit." She scowled at him and pulled her knees up to her chest, setting her chin on them. "And that isn't very much you know."

"I'm only trying to help, and here you are mouthing off at me. It's only because of me that you had somewhere to stay last night. Or would you rather had been out on the street?" He laughed and started looking at the cabinet under the sink. He quickly found the rag and wet it.

"Out on the street or here with Pansy, having every single one of my flaws being brought up at least twenty times. Granger, that certainly is a hard choice. Thank you very much for your precious space." The sarcasm was very strong, but she didn't care.

"I want both of you out tonight. No more fights in my room in the early hours of the morning." He was pressing the cloth to his cheek gingerly, and she couldn't help but smile. He could be such a baby over such a tiny thing as an imperfection to his face. "I don't care if you take it anywhere else, but just not here. All right?"

"Fine." They sat there for awhile, the only sound coming from the room next to them. Pansy seemed to be either crying or laughing incredibly hard, though Hermione doubted it was the latter.

"Great."

"Excellent."

"Peachy-keen."

"Happy, happy good sauce."

"What?"

"Would you like to go down to the Basilica later?" Hermione's eyebrows raised. He sounded so sincere, almost as if he were being serious about asking her out. He wasn't... was he?

"Uh... I...Er...."

"You do have a grasp on the English language, don't you Granger?" Draco stuck his tounge out at her in a very mature fashion, making Hermione feel like she wanted to smack him. She would have if he hadn't already been reeling from one strike.

She nodded, feeling light headed. She had been through so much in the last day that nothing was really a surprise anymore. I found him lying on my bed, didn't I? Is this better or worse?

Pansy had apparently finished with whatever she had been doing and was now throwing a heavy object at the door. Hermione and Draco ignored her. "Excellent. We'll go out, party a little, drown our worries in whatever they'll sell to two sixteen-year-olds and then, perhaps, come back here for a little-"

"Speech from Pansy about how you never take her anywhere fun?" Draco was rubbing his cheek, a foolish grin on his face. "Sounds great, Malfoy!"

"I was not going to say sex. Honest, I wasn't!" Hermione tilted her head and looked at him, a skeptic look on his face. "I was going to say Exploding Snap."

"Yea, I'm sure. But, before any of that," She was still sure that he was only joking around for some reason. "You need to get Pansy to calm down."

***

"Lucius, how good to see you again." Severus nodded his head at the man standing in the doorway, but he didn't stand up. "I felt that I don't frequent your lovely house enough, and decided to drop by."

"I would love to get some notice in advance before you just 'drop by' again, Severus." Lucius' lip curled. "Now, what brings you around? Decided to join the winning team again?"

Severus swirled his drink, a dry scotch poured by a very nervous looking house elf, and smiled. This was not where he wanted to be spending his night, but it was important enough to get it done. "No, I'm already on the right side. Thank you for asking, however."

"You could have been my right-hand man, Severus. Isn't that a much better sounding title than 'Potions Professor'?" Severus' eyes flashed.

"Potions Master."

"What?"

"I am not just an ordinary professor, Lucius. I am the Potions Master, and I earned my rank. I didn't buy my way on, covering up mistakes by slipping galleons under the table." The room was cold. A swift flick of his wand and a few well-chosen words and a fire was blazing in the fireplace. "I am not here to send in an application. Just to see your son."

"Why would you want to see Draco?" Severus watched as Lucius' eyes flicked up to the floor above them, as if he could see his son lying on his bed. "What did he do now?"

"Not so much as what he did as what he didn't do. A late Potions essay, I'm afraid." Severus was quite sure that Lucius could tell through his lie, but he didn't care. He wouldn't tell him what his real reason for being at the manor was.

"I see. Very unlike Draco, although he is a disgrace. Never amount to anything." Lucius walked over to one of the open leather chairs and slumped down into one. He was wearing traveling robes. Where has he been? A Death Eater rally? A top-secret meeting? "You'll have to excuse my dress. I was just coming back from the Bahamas with my wife. Dreadful this time of year, by the way. Too much sun."

Severus nodded and took a sip of his drink. He had a sudden image of him drinking in the bar he and Hermione had been at earlier that night. A sudden bad taste came over him as he tried to think of what she had ordered for him. "I never have like warm, sunny places. They always seem to be crowded. I like to stay to myself."

"Afraid to show off your terribly white legs, eh?" Lucius laughed, but he was the only one. He stopped abruptly when he realized that the rest of the room was deathly silent, save for the crackling of the logs in the fire. "Nom, is Draco up in his room?" He yelled this at the top of his lungs, and Severus could have sworn that some of the paintings shook.

"Who's Nom?"

"Don't you remember? Narcissa's middle name is Ophillia and, if I remember right, it was you who first started calling her that for short." Severus was drawing a blank on the subject, but smiled politely anyway. "Narcissa is much too long to call."

They waited for a moment, neither of them having anything to say. It was only when Narcissa came into the room at full speed, her cheeks stained with tears that they spoke.

"What's wrong dear? Do you have a split end again?" Lucius was patting her back affectionately, as if trying to calm her down. It wasn't working. If anything, she started to cry harder.

"No! Draco's gone! I'm telling you, they took him away and are going to torture him and not feed him until he submits to their evil wills!" Her words were slightly slurred, though it was most likely because she was crying so hard.

Severus watched Narcissa for a minute. "Who's 'they', Narcissa?" Lucius rolled his eyes at him over her head, signifying that he had already gone through it and had no idea either. She was pretty worked up though. No amount of hair petting and whispers of how beautiful she was would calm her down. "Aren't you the head of the 'evil wills' department? Isn't it your side that does the torturing? I mean, if all that is true Narcissa, wouldn't he be with your Dark Lord."

"Why are you here, Severus?" Narcissa had stopped crying only long enough to look up at him, a tight frown on her face, before burying her face in her husband's shoulder again.

"We actually left Draco in Egypt while we went on vacation. When we went to get him, he was gone without a trace." Lucius patted his wife's back some more as she started howling louder, though he was looking at her kind of funny, as if something were wrong beside his son being gone. "I do not believe that you are here to talk with him about his grades. I think you know where he is, you traitor."

"Where is my son?" Narcissa's voice came out misty. Severus took another drink and got up.

"I don't have your son, and I certainly don't know where he is. Probably went away to a house where he is thought of as more than just an heir, Lucius. Now, I have to be going since what I'm looking for isn't here."

He walked out, humming quietly to himself, ignoring the blank looks Narcissa and Lucius were giving him. "This was fun. We'll have to do it again some time soon."

***

Hermione couldn't help but laugh as she walked along the street next to Draco. It was a bright and sunny day, and after you got past the outermost, bitter shell of him, Draco wasn't all that bad. He wasn't perfect, but still not bad.

And it was a wonder that they had gotten out at all. Pansy had been throwing a shoe at the wall when the two of them came out of the bathroom, still wearing the same ugly dress she had been the night before. As soon as Draco said they were leaving, she had started crying again until he said he would go out and get her some chocolate.

At first, as she sat there on the bed next to a depressed Pansy as they waited for Draco to return with the candy, Hermione had been puzzled as to why the promise of chocolate had worked so well. After they had left, however, Draco explained that it was her secret weak point, and that he bought some for her as often as he could.

"Did you know that I can trace my blood line all the way back to Morgana Le Fay?" Draco was spouting off about some random thing, but Hermione wasn't listening. She was having too much fun to hear about his family.

"Really now? That's wonderful, Malfoy." Some children ran past in front of them, and she smiled. The two boys were dressed in rags, their black hair flowing down well past their shoulders, but they were still cute.

"I hate children."

Hermione looked at the two boys again. Here were two innocent souls, completely happy with the fact that they had warm clothing and might have a good meal later that night, while another boy dismissed them for who they were. "You were a child once, you know."

"I may have been a child, Hermione, but I never had a childhood." Draco shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled out a lira. He tossed it in the direction of the children, and they happily took it. With crooked smiles, they ran off down a side alley, skipping the whole way.

"What are you talking about? Everyone had a childhood." Hermione laughed and watched them until they had disappeared around a corner. "Or did the Malfoy who had everything he could have ever wanted not get something so normal as a childhood?"

"By the time I could walk, I knew how to command servants. While you were playing with your tea sets and dolls, I was casting Unforgivable curses. When I was seven, I had already had my future sealed as a Death Eater. I envy your past, Granger. Just not your person."

She lowered her head and stayed silent for awhile as they walked. The feeling around them had gone from content to subdued. I had no idea that he had such a hard life... I always assumed it was just tea and crumpets for him growing up...

"But I don't dwell on it. It's just one of the facts of life. I'm rich and smart without a good past, you're an annoying Mudblood who probably had the best childhood in the world. I hope you enjoyed it, Granger. It isn't going to last for much longer. There's been peace for awhile, but now that Voldemort is in power again..."

Draco trailed off as she shuttered at the name. He had been back in power for a year now but it was still hard to accept it. And here Draco was just casually saying his name like he was an old friend. There were no childhood friends for him, though... Perhaps, in some way, Voldemort was Draco's childhood.

"Sorry."

"It's all right. It just takes a little time to get used to his name being flung around so easily." He nodded and there was more silence for awhile. "Are you expected to follow in you father's footsteps and go with... Voldemort?"

Draco nodded. "If he saw me here talking with you now, he would kill me. Heir or no heir, fraternizing openly with the enemy is as bad as committing a mortal sin. My mother can always have another child, but if it's just me, there is no second chances." Hermione's mouth dropped open.

"But that's horrible! He would just kill you? You're his son!"

"I'm his heir. Like I said, with Voldemort in power and a war about to start, there is no room for him to mess up and not have a son who will take over his place when he dies. Of course, he doesn't think he's going to die, so I guess that really doesn't matter." There was no emotion in his voice. Hermione suddenly regretted ever speaking harshly about Draco, about anything she had ever done to him at all. "Perhaps I could just offer you in my place if it ever comes to that...."

Or maybe not so sorry anymore.

"Oh, you." She laughed and pushed him on the shoulder. In a show of very bad acting, he pretended to fall to the ground in pain. When she extended her hand down to him to help him up, he was laughing harder than she was. He looks kind of handsome when he's laughing....

"Oh, the horror! The agony! The bleakness of it all! I'll never have feeling in my poor arm again!"

"Shut up, Draco." His eyes widened at her and it took her a moment to realize. Oh dear lord, did I just say what I think I did? "I mean, of course... uh..."

She never got the chance to finish as he pointed to a café across the street, completely ignoring the fact that she had said his name. Or perhaps he wasn't ignoring it.... He looked at her, his head cocked to the side.

"Let's go eat over there Granger. I could eat a hippogriff!"

Hermione nodded and followed him over, still lost in thought despite her cool facade on the outside. Did he catch that I used his name? Am I slipping? Are my standards plummeting before my eyes? "I don't want anything big. Just a cup of tea or some mineral water."

"Mineral water? And did you want that with flavor, or did you just want it plain sparkling?" She raised her eyebrows at him, and he stopped making fun of her.

They sat down at a table near the railing, and Draco motioned for a waitress to come over. She smiled and said something in Italian, still taking orders from another customer.

"What are you going to get, Malfoy?" She wouldn't let herself call him by that other name again. He smirked at her and propped his feet up on the table, ignoring her irritated looks.

"Mineral water." He picked up a menu and started flipping through it.

"Very funny." Hermione looked around at all of the other people seated around them. Most were deep in conversation with the person across from them, and she suspected that not one of them had to talk with such an irritatingly charming bastard as Draco Malfoy. "But seriously."

"Owl."

"They don't serve owl here." Hermione looked puzled at him. "And why would you want to have owl? I mean, I don't think they would taste all that good..."

"No you twit, there is an owl perched next to you with a letter tied on its foot." He didn't even look up from his menu. Blushing slightly, she turned. Sure enough there was a tawny sitting next to her, its head cocked to the side as it watched her.

As quickly as she could, as not to attract attention to herself by even affiliating with an owl, she took the note and sent the bird away with a ruffle of its feathers. "I don't recognize the bird... do you?"

"Nope."

"You didn't even look at it." She didn't argue with him, however, and quickly unfolded it. Scanning it quickly, she jumped up from her chair, knocking it to the floor. Draco didn't even look up. "We have to leave. Now."

Only then did his eyes flick away from the menu. "Why? Love letter from Potter?" She shook her head stubbornly and put her hands on her hips. "Can't it wait until we eat? I'm so hungry!"

"No. We have to leave Venice as soon as we can."

"What the hell can be that important? And how are we supposed to leave without booking some form of transport. We can't exactly Apparate, you know." The waitress was making her way over now, and they didn't have much time.

"How did you get to Venice in the first place, Malfoy?" He sniffed and turned the page. "Tell me!"

"A Portkey, but it only has one move left, and I don't want to waste it on you." She sucked on her bottom lip and grabbed his arm, pulling him up from his chair.

"You will use it and pray that Pansy is in the room. She's going to have to come with us now, I guess. Unless you want to explain to your mother why she was found dead in my room when she was looking for you."

Draco got wide eyed and threw down the menu. "All right, let's go. Right away. Come on, why are you being so slow?"

All Hermione could do was frown as they filed away from the café, completely unaware that they were being watched from a nearby balcony overhead.

***