Odd Packages

Chapter 5

I found a light, and then it grew.

I found myself, still thinking of you.

I felt so empty, but now I'm fine.

But still it's burning, when will you be mine?

"Stories"

-Trapt

Chantel knocked lightly on the large wood door to Zane's room.

"Who is it?" came a surly growl.

"It's Chantel, sir," she said in the sweetest voice she could muster. "May I come in?" There was silence for a few moments, then the scrape of a lock and the door opened.

"What do you want?" Zane inquired, stepping back so Chantel could enter. She glanced at him as she stepped inside and did a double take. Zane looked more haggard then she had ever seen him. His shirt was unbuttoned, exposing his chest, and his hair was a mess. He had bags under his eyes as though he hadn't slept in days.

Chantel always thought that Zane was like his father in some aspects, but also unlike him in others. Zane was human. He was flawed with the attributes that come with being a human. Voldemort, although born a human, seemed to transform into something more along his path to power. Zane might someday become what his father was, but for now he was still just a human.

"I brought you something," Chantel said, holding up a large bottle of Ogden's finest firewhiskey. "To apologize for my horrendous impropriety." The corners of her mouth twitched. Zane gave a satisfied smile.

"All right, then," he said. He gestured to an armchair by the fire. "Sit." Chantel sat down and watched Zane as he walked over to a cabinet and pulled out two shot glasses. He joined her by the fire, sitting in an armchair across from hers. She uncorked the bottle and filled both glasses.

"To you, Zane," she said, raising her glass.

"Yes, to me," Zane said with a large grin, raising his glass also. The glasses came together with a chink and, with an inward smile, Chantel watched as Zane downed the firewhiskey.

* * *

Once again Harry was dreaming. Except this time it wasn't about Fred or George. It was a dream Harry had often, one that had haunted him since his fifth year.

He saw Sirius. He saw a beam of red light hit Sirius full in the chest. Saw Sirius fall gracefully backward through the veil. The veil that so often haunted his thoughts. He gave a loud moan that brought him back to reality. He was in the dark tent. His stomach ached and his throat still burned from vomiting. Harry closed his eyes, but willed himself not to fall back asleep incase he had another veil dream. He lay there for awhile, and it wasn't until he heard someone give a small sniffle that he realized he was not alone in the tent.

"Who was that? Hermione?" he called out blindly. A flashlight turned on and he saw that it was in fact Hermione.

"Oh Harry," she said, and her voice sounded a bit odd. "Your awake, good. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," Harry said forgetting all about the icy tone he had adopted when talking to her. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Oh it's nothing," she said waving her hand impatiently. "I just have a bit of a cold." But Harry noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. Harry realized also that on his face was a mixture of sweat and tears. He wiped it away quickly with his sleeve.

"I miss him too," Hermione said quietly.

"Huh?" Harry said, taken aback.

"I heard you talking I your sleep," she said ruefully. Harry was about to reply when Draco entered the tent.

"Hey Potter, how's it going?" he said, grinning widely. Hermione got up.

"I'll let you two talk," she said, and she exited the tent. Harry was sad to see her go; he wanted to talk to her, not Malfoy.

"That was a dirty trick you played Malfoy," he said, glaring at Draco and sitting up in his sleeping bag. "If I wasn't so tired, I'd strangle you."

"Yes, I know," Draco said. "That's why I brought you something to make up for my bastardliness. We may not be friends, hell we may not even like each other. But I've never seen anyone blow chunks like that and I feel kind of bad." Harry was surprised by this sentiment, but he wasn't entirely sure if he was being sincere or not. Draco reached behind him and held up a thermos.

"I brought you hot cocoa." He took the cap off and poured some of the steaming liquid into it, handing it to Harry. Harry grunted his thanks and brought the cup to his lips, but before he took a drink, a thought occurred to him.

"What have you done to this?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Nothing, honest," Draco said, holding up his hands innocently. Harry took a sip of the drink, a little hesitantly, but it tasted good all the same.

"Hey Malfoy?" Harry said quietly. "I feel kind of stupid asking you this, as you absolutely hate her, and you probably don't have a clue and could care less, but...Do you know what's wrong with Hermione? She wont look me in the eye anymore."

Draco took a drink of cocoa and studied Harry for a moment before answering.

"Well Potter, let me give you my two-cents. Hermione loves you. Not just as a friend but as more. She didn't realize before, and she's beating herself up for letting you go. She wants you back but thinks that you probably wouldn't take her back even if she got down on her knees and begged you to."

"That's not true!" Harry said indignantly. "And how in the world did you know that?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well, when you've read every issue of Witch Weekly for the past six years with nothing better to do because the numb skulls in your house are so thick they cant carry on an intelligent conversation with more then 3 words...it comes to you naturally." At these words Harry actually smiled.

"You know Malfoy, maybe I've had you wrong all these years. You're alright after all..."

"Haha, yea," Draco said uncomfortably. He suddenly didn't feel so confident about what he had in store for Harry and his friends. He shook his head, trying to clear the thought.

"Your weakening, Draco," he told himself sternly as he left the tent minutes later. "Get a grip on yourself, its only Potter. Stupid Potter..."

* * *

An hour later, Zane emptied the last bit of firewhiskey into his shot glass and downed it quickly. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked up at Chantel.

"You haven't touched yours!" he said incredulously.

"Well, I guess I'm just not thirsty," she said, setting down her glass. "But that doesn't matter Zane, honey," She got up, tossed back her sheet of long brown hair, and walked over to Zane. She sat down in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I've missed you," she whispered softly in his ear. The room was dark, lit only by the glow of the dying fire. Chantel inhaled deeply the sent of Zane, like spicy cloves.

"H-Have you really now?" Zane said drunkenly, his words slurring together. Chantel nodded and began kissing him lightly on the neck. He gave a satisfied moan, and after a minute, she stopped.

"So, tell me," she said, still as softly as ever. "What do you plan to do with the prisoners?" Zane chuckled.

"Well, I'll kill them eventually," he said with satisfaction. "They were just a hoax to get Potter on our case."

"But what if they escape?"

"They cant!" I've hidden the keys to their cell much to well."

"Could you tell me where they're hidden? It could be our little secret."

"No, of course not!" Zane said. Chantel began kissing him again.

"Alright, alright!" he said chuckling. "I've hidden the keys in the library. There's a square cut out of one of the books. I think its called 'Charm your own cheese' or something. The keys are hidden inside the book."

"Alright, well I must go know," Chantel said abruptly, getting up and heading for the door.

"G-Go?" said Zane imploringly.

"Yes, Zane darling," she said, and with a grin, she left.

* * *

"Malfoy, you twit! Keep your feet off of me, their ice cold!" Ron whispered angrily later that night. Harry, Ron, and to Ron's dismay, Draco, had lain their sleeping bags out into one huge blanket, all the better to keep warm.

"Well if Potter wasn't such a blanket hog!" Draco whispered back, making fruitless tugs at the blanket.

"Both of you shut up!" Harry hissed.

Meanwhile...

In the next tent, things were different. Ginny was sound asleep, but it wasn't visions of sugar plums that danced in her head...

She was in a bikini, stretched out on a lawn chair, near a large pool. The sun was bright and high in the sky. And to her left, was Draco Malfoy, clad in a long white robe. He had a large bowl of grapes in his hands, and he was feeding them to Ginny, grinning rather stupidly all the while. A few grapes later, he set down the bowl. He stood, and slowly pulled off the robe he was wearing to reveal a blue speedo.

"Cheers, darling," he said to Ginny before jumping into the pool with a tremendous splash. As water from the pool hit her, she awoke abruptly from her dream. She was once again in the tent. She smiled to herself, recollecting the dream. Then she snuggled down deeper into the covers.

* * *

When Harry awoke the next morning, bright sunlight had pervaded the tent. He looked around and discovered that he was the only one still sleeping. He sat up and as he rubbed his eyes and put his glasses on, he heard a voice outside the tent.

"WAR! Duh dun duh, huh, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Bewildered, Harry dressed and unzipped the tent, stepping outside into the summer morning. Draco was sitting along near the fire, poking it absentmindedly with a stick.

"Malfoy, what the hell are you doing?" Harry said, squinting at the blond-haired boy.

"Good morning to you too, Potter," Draco said in mock hurt.

"Where are the others?" Harry demanded, ignoring this.

"Relax, they just went to get some wood," Draco said, holding up his hands. "You think you'll be all right by yourself with big, bad Draco for awhile?" He smirked and shook his head, returning to poking the fire. Harry grunted and sat down.

"...it's so sad how wizards have poor house-elves brainwashed. They don't realize the injustice of the way they're treated." Hermione, Ron, and Ginny emerged, each carrying a small pile of twigs and branches. Hermione dropped her pile of wood and turned to Ron with an exasperated look on her face.

"Would you just give it a rest, Hermione?" Ron implored, also dropping his pile. "I know you're really into this spew stuff and all-"

"Oh for heavens sake Ron, it's S.P.E.W! How many more times am I going to have to tell you?"

"Ron made a house-elf comment," Ginny explained to Harry and Draco in an undertone. "They've been at it all morning."

"Well, what else is new, huh?" Harry said, taking some wood and tossing it into the fire.

"Oh, no," Hermione said suddenly, halting the bickering. "I must have lost my bracelet back in the woods. I have to find it-" Ron groaned.

"Hermione-"

"I'll help you find it," Harry volunteered.

"Oh, thank you Harry," Hermione said, throwing a slight glance in Harry's direction. Together they headed back into the forest.

"We'll have to retrace our steps," Hermione said, her eyes sweeping the forest floor. Harry gladly busied himself looking for the bracelet, because he was starting to feel uncomfortably awkward. They walked on in discomfited silence until Hermione stopped and turned to Harry.

"Harry, I've been meaning to talk to you, and I think now is as good a time as ever." Harry swallowed, unsure of why he was so nervous. He was only talking to Hermione!

"How long are we going to pretend this isn't happening?"

"I-I don't understand," Harry replied though he knew perfectly well. Hermione sighed, but it wasn't an impatient sigh. Harry looked into her calm brown eyes that he knew so well. The summer sunlight streaming through the canopy of trees danced upon her fair skin and a light breeze played with her hair.

"Listen Harry," she said quickly as though she had rehearsed this before. "I know during the past few weeks, we've both said and done a lot of things we didn't mean. I was hoping we could put it behind us." She paused to see Harry's reaction, and when he nodded, she plunged on.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking and, well- I've made a big mistake. I'm sorry-" Harry was about to tell her not to apologize, that he was to blame too, but was caught momentarily surprised when he found her lips suddenly on his, their bodies suddenly closer than they had been in a month. A fraction of a second later she had pulled away, looking up at him nervously. Harry was at a loss for words. He wasn't sure what to do- this wasn't what he had expected. He said the first thing that came to mind.

"No-" he said quietly. Hermione looked stunned.

"Oh Harry this was so stupid of me!" she said, her eyes filling with tears. "I should have known you'd still be angry at me. You have every right to be, but-" she turned and made to walk away, but Harry grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he said quickly. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say 'No, don't stop'."

"Y-You were?" she sniffed.

"Yes."

Hermione smiled shyly, looking down at her feet as one last tear rolled down her cheek. Then she looked back up at Harry, and at that very moment, the invisible wall that had separated them for over a month crumbled and fell.

"Thanks Harry," she said, and she put her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

* * *

Harry and Hermione had no success at finding her bracelet, so as they headed back to camp Harry assured her that he would buy her a new one on their next trip to Diagon Alley. When they arrived back in camp, Ginny was cooking lunch over the fire while Draco and Ron were finishing packing up the tents, never saying anything to each other but shooting nasty looks in each other's direction every so often. Ginny eyed Harry and Hermione suspiciously as they walked up, both looking as though they'd had massive cheering charms placed on them.

"What are you two so bloody happy about?" Draco grumbled a few minutes later as Ginny ladled soup into bowls for each of them.

"Oh, just eager to get going," Harry said brightly. Draco rolled his eyes as he pulled a map out of his bag.

"We've still got a way to go, but with any luck we'll arrive tomorrow."

"And where exactly are we going and what exactly are we looking for?" Hermione demanded.

"Well, once you guys described what you were looking for, I knew where we would be headed."

"Which is?"

"There's an old fortress around the forest Harry described to me, so that's where we're going. If its not the right place, then we're screwed." Draco folded up his map and pocketed it.

"What?" he said, seeing the look Harry was giving him.

"You just called me Harry," Harry said, trying not to smile.

"Oh, sorry Potter," he said, smirking. He stood up.

"Are you indolent bunch of Gryffindors ready?" The rest of them stood up.

"Right then, off we go!" he said with a slight smile.

* * *