I'll Always Be There for You...

I'll always be there for you...

Chapter 13

When I went back outside, I watched one of the models finish with her shoot, then it was time for my mini shoot.

I finished with that quickly and then Draco sent me back to the manor to get ready for our flight tomorrow.

Back at the manor, I packed my things slowly because I had a lot of time, then continued with my reading.

I didn't get very far with it because Draco Apparated and told me that we had dinner with some people at the Ministry.

After the dinner, which was very boring, I climbed into bed and fell asleep.

The next day, I woke up and got dressed; eagerly anticipating the next few days. Our flight was at eight o'clock so we reached the airport at six.

On the plane, Draco fell asleep immediately since it was still early, though I read a magazine in the seat beside him.

Our first stop was Italy and we reached there in four hours. Our stop was exactly ten hours so I couldn't really enjoy staying there.

"Can't we stay a bit longer?" I pleaded with Draco, while a woman did my makeup in a trailer.

He shook his head. "We'll get behind in our schedule."

I pouted and stuck my tongue out at him in the mirror. "I can't even see all the places that I want to see."

He shrugged. "Maybe you can come back."

Yeah right, I thought. Like when? This was my first time visiting Italy, plus all of the other places that were on our list. When would I get time to come back?

But I didn't say anything and just followed Draco out the door to pose in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Coliseum.

Since I was such a hard worker, I finished the shoots for those two places, plus one of me standing in a boat on the river between houses in only eight hours.

But I was so tired by that time that I was getting cranky. I took off my makeup and changed my clothes.

"Do you still want to look around?" Draco asked me when I stepped out of the trailer.

"We only have two hours," I said grumpily. "It's not enough."

He ran a hand through his hair. I could tell he felt bad. "Do you want to get something to eat then? Are you hungry?"

I could see that he was making an effort, how lame it was, so I just said, "Fine, whatever."

He led me to this small, but posh restaurant and pulled out a seat for while I sat down.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked me.

I looked at the menu. "How about we try some real pizza for a change?"

He grinned. "All right."

So we ordered pizza and just when I was about to dig in, I saw flashes at the side of my eyes as several photographers took our picture.

Just when I was about to panic, Draco took my hand on the table and said, "Ignore them. Keep eating."

So I did when he said. I took a slice of pizza and ate it as if there weren't hordes of people outside the restaurant. But as soon people got to know that I was the 'famous model Mione' they started coming towards us asking me for my autograph.

So Draco made the staff pack the pizza and this nice woman led us to the back of the restaurant and out a hidden door so we could escape.

When I stumbled outside, I saw that the sun was just setting and we were on the sidewalk that ran beside the river with the houses on both sides of the river.

The photographers were coming after us again, so Draco handed me the bag with the pizza in it and then called a man with a boat on the river, just like someone may call a taxi on the street.

The man came towards us and Draco jumped into the boat and then took my hand and helped me in. We just got away as several of the photographers reached us.

"Smile 'Mione!" they called after us, posing their cameras.

"Might as well," I said and Draco nodded.

So he put his arm around my waist and we both smiled as they took pictures of us. Soon they were gone and then Draco let go of me.

The boat was a big one, so the man who 'drove' it was sitting at the front with the oar while we sat in the back on a bench.

"That was insane," I said.

He nodded, taking out a slice of pizza and giving one to me as well. "But it's good that you're getting used to it."

I took a bite of my pizza and finished it within a few minutes.

The sun had completely gone down and I felt really tired, since I had been tired before and then when I had to run away from the photographers it made me even more tired.

I yawned and felt my eyes closing.

"You're tired, aren't you?"

I nodded, yawning again. "It's from all the running around."

"Our flight doesn't leave for another hour, so just rest," he said, moving himself closer to me. "Just put your head on my shoulder."

So I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes and I felt his arm go around my waist.

As I rested, I couldn't believe what had happened in the last month. A month ago, I hated Malfoy and wouldn't even want to be anywhere near him and he felt the same way. Now here we were: my head on his shoulder and his arm protectively around my waist.

Half another passed that we were like this and soon I heard Draco calling me.

"Hermione," he said, gently shaking me.

I woke up immediately. "What happened?"

"Nothing," he said. "It's time to go."

The boat had stopped, and he was standing up, at the side of a road. I got up and he helped me out of the boat.

"Grazie," he said to the man who had rowed us, handing him some lira.

Then we walked across the street and got a cab that took us to the airport, where our entire load luggage was.

I was happy to get on the plane, because I was so tired, so as soon as the plane took off I was asleep.

Our next stop was in Cairo, Egypt. I had wanted to see the pyramids my entire life and was overjoyed that my next shoot would be there.

We arrived in Egypt about three hours later at the Cairo Airport.

I was sleeping when the plane stopped so Draco had to shake me awake again.

"When do I get to sleep?" I asked him, walking out of the small airplane.

He smiled at me, understandingly. "I don't know. Sorry."

When I walked onto the Egyptian sand, the first thing I saw was the great pyramids. They were even bigger than I had ever imagined, looming over all of Cairo with the sun blazing overhead. Thankfully, we were in Egypt for ten hours, so I could actually look around more.

We were met by a crew that led us to several trailers set up near the pyramids.

In my own trailer, I got my makeup done and got dressed in a see through-ish delicately made black dress. It was the most revealing piece of clothing I had ever worn before, but it was beautiful and it captured the beauty and exotic-ness of Egypt. The dye in my hair was slowly fading, so that my natural brown was coming back, but in streaks so that it was mostly black still, but brown as well. It looked good and the stylist had curled it a bit so that it fell in think waves down my back.

The woman who did my makeup did my eyes so that they were slightly pointed at the edges with kohl and made them look smoked. Then, after saying that she hadn't seen eyelashes as long as mine before, she put some mascara on them and made them look unnaturally long and fake.

Finally I was done and I stepped out of the trailer after the makeup artists, but with a shawl on my hair so it wouldn't get ruined.

I saw Draco standing in front of the trailer looking past me, as if he was waiting for me.

"Excuse me, where's 'Mione?" he asked the woman in front of him.

The woman only spoke Arabic, so she shrugged and walked away.

Since Draco couldn't recognize me, I decided to fool him a bit more. "I think she's still inside."

"Thank you, miss," he said, and without a backward glance at me, he walked up to the trailer while I waited for him.

He poked his head into the trailer looking for me, calling me name.

"I can't find her," he said, then turning to look at me.

I had taken the shawl off my hair and I said in a sexy voice, "I can't find her either."

His mouth almost dropped open and his eyes widened.

"What do you think?" I said, twirling my dress for him, grinning.

"It's...you're...you look...good," he said as if he was frozen.

I laughed. "Thanks, now come on. We'll be late."

So I walked ahead to where the cameramen were setting up with the equipment, not noticing Draco walking behind me as if in a trance.

We reached the pyramids and then the photographers made me pose in various positions around the pyramids with my hair blowing as they took a bunch of pictures.

Then I changed into a white dress and we moved to the Sphinx and took several shots there.

The whole time I was enjoying myself too much to be right next to the pyramids and sphinx to notice that Draco was staring at me the whole time.

We also went to various other places around Egypt and took loads of pictures there. We also got a few of my standing on top of this hill on top of the Valley of the Kings wearing a little bit more authentic Egyptian clothing, while the designers had made it look modern with the neck dipping low and the bodice tight fitted.

Finally we finished the shoot and it was nine o'clock: and I was famished. We weren't to leave Egypt for another few hours, exactly at midnight.

I was planning on spending that time sitting in my trailer staring at the pyramids, trying to burn the image into my brain, but Draco came by when the crew was packing up and told me to get dressed up because he had a surprise for me.

Excited, I picked out another one of my favourite dresses that had been one of the original designs but had been dumped because it was supposedly not 'sexy' enough. It was similar to the black one I had worn earlier, except it wasn't as revealing.

In fact I liked it better. It was long and had beautiful black lace all over it as well, except it had an under gown sewn under it, so that the only skin that was visible was my back where the lace made a window for my back so that only bits and pieces were seen through the holes of the lace. It wasn't that long, it reached just past my knees, except my favourite thing about it was that it wasn't straight, but flared out from the waist, while the bodice was tight fitted. I also wore my favourite lace up black shoes.

I did my makeup myself and ended up putting up my hair with a black ribbon and I wore this black diamond set that the head of Magical Antiquities had given me. I felt more dressed up than ever, because for once my appearance was an effort of my own and it was my own choice.

So I met Draco on the edge of the Nile, where he told me to meet him. He was waiting patiently for me there just like he said he would. It was now night and I could barely see the lights of Cairo behind us; because we were close the river.

He looked breathtakingly handsome; actually handsome was the wrong word. He looked hot. After spending a day in the Egyptian sun, his skin had tanned a bit and his blond hair also appeared darker. He was wearing a white collar shirt with the first two buttons opened so that I could see the smooth, white texture of his chest muscles.

"Close your eyes," he said, taking my hand.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

He raised his eyebrows at me as if to say, "Don't you trust me?"

I laughed at the look on his face and said, "All right, all right. My eyes are closed." And they were. I felt strange standing there with my eyes closed.

Draco took my hand and led me somewhere, being careful that I didn't trip anywhere. There was some rustling in the bushes and then he said, "You can open them now."

I opened my eyes and almost screamed. Standing in front of me, on the water, was this big boat with the lights making a soft glow around it and the water.

It wasn't that big of a boat, but it was pretty big for the two of us, I noticed as Draco led me on to it. There was a table set up in one corner and various other luxuries.

"This is amazing!" I said, completely taken aback. It really was. I couldn't believe that he had gone to all this trouble for me.

He helped me in a chair and then sat across the table from me. The boat was aglow with so much light even in the night that I could tell he was pleased to hear this. "You like it?"

"I love it!" I said as the boat started to gently move. The table was set right against the railing, which wasn't that high, so that I could see the water rushing past the boat. "It reminds me of this book. It's called Death on the Nile, except I hope no one's going to die."

He smiled at this. "I think I read it once."

"It's a good book isn't it?" I asked. "But this, I feel like I've stepped into the book. It's breathtaking. But Draco, why did you go to so much trouble? I would have been happy going anywhere. This is so special."

He shrugged, looking kind of embarrassed now. "You wanted to stay in Italy, but we didn't have time. I think you like Egypt better, so I thought you might like this better to make up for everything."

I smiled at that. "Thank you."

Draco signalled to the waiters, who then served up some very yummy looking Arabic food that I couldn't wait to gobble up.

When we were served, Draco said, "Wait. Your hair."

"My hair?" I felt to the back of my head to see if my ponytail was falling apart, but it wasn't. But then I felt Draco's hand in my hair and he pulled apart the ribbon so that my hair framed my face.

"It looks better down," he said, his eyes on mine. I felt mesmerized by his eyes, and then I felt my cheeks redden and this feeling deep down in my stomach.

We began to eat: and the food was as delicious as it looked, I found that I was every bit as famished as I thought.

While we ate, Draco asked me how I liked Egypt and I told him that I loved it. Then he asked me why I loved it and then I told him the million reasons I loved the country before ever having step foot into to it.

He actually listened to me and appeared interested.

After we finished the meal there were several cakes and pies that I could only eat a bit of.

After eating as much as I could stuff within myself, the same men who had served us food began playing a violin and some other Egyptian instruments, so Draco took my hand and asked me to dance.

I could think of nothing more romantic and agreed. Everything that was happening to me tonight felt like it was happening to a character in one of my favourite books.

For some reason, while we danced, I could suddenly feel everything more. I could feel the gentle swaying of the boat. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. I could feel Draco's fingers wrapped around mine. I could feel his hand on my waist.

After ten minutes of dancing though, I felt slightly dizzy and out of breath.

"Can we sit?" I asked Draco. "I feel dizzy."

"Sure," he said, leading me to a futon type couch that was in the corner of the boat, that didn't have the shade of the canopy that was hung over the rest of the boat.

When I sat down, I saw that without the canopy and the pollution of a city, I could see the thousands of stars shining brightly above me.

I gasped. "Oh my god. It's so beautiful."

Draco sat down beside me and pushed me slightly so that I was leaning back and not sitting on the edge. "Relax."

Still staring at the sky, I said, "You know, when I was younger I wanted to be an astronomer, because I loved the stars so much."

"Why didn't you then?"

I shrugged, half smiling. "I don't know. I never thought that I would be a model like this someday."

"It just goes to show you then..." he said.

"What?" I asked him, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't. Instead he kissed me.

I may have gasped, except I couldn't, since his mouth was on mine. I couldn't believe what was happening. This was like no other kiss I had had.

I kissed him back, feeling his passion on my lips. His hands were on my back and then in my hair. I touched his soft, perfect blond hair, ruffling it a bit. I was on my back now, with him on top of me.

I then felt his tongue opening my mouth and so I let him.

I could feel my body engulfed in such passion that it felt like I was on fire. I felt a deep longing inside of me, growing from the tips of my toes to my heart that made it clench and unclench.

Soon though, he broke away and was breathing heavily, gasping for air. But then he started kissing my bare arms and neck.

I felt like I wasn't even in control of my body anymore, because I could do nothing but moan and let him continue.

As the intensity of it grew, the deep longing, that was now a deep pain in my chest grew until I could feel nothing else but it.

Then his lips were on mine again and a single thought crossed my mind. Ron had never kissed me like this. No matter how much I had told him that I wanted a little bit more passion in our relationship, he had never listened.

But I pushed Ron away, with as much strength as I could muster and concentrated on the passion that was burning my body and the little jolts of electricity that were going through me.

************

The next morning, I woke up feeling rested and refreshed for some reason. I was in a big, comfy bed and my body felt a bit stiff.

I looked down and saw that I was still wearing the black dress from last night.

Last night...suddenly everything came back to me.

I was in California and it was noon. After we had made out last night, Draco and I had caught the plane that brought us to California. I slept a bit during the plane ride, but went to sleep again, in the hotel room that Draco and I were sharing, when we reached there which was at seven o'clock in the morning.

It was only five hours of sleep, but since I had slept in a bed after a few days, I was happy.

As for Draco and me, well nothing really happened. Except that when we got to the hotel, almost dead from being so tired, Draco had gotten us only one room and we had slept together last night.

Not like that though, considering that I was still wearing my clothes.

The whole night had been terribly romantic, from him planning the little cruise for us to the wonderful dinner, desert and dancing.

Draco wasn't there and I had no idea where he had gone to so early in the morning.

I faintly remembered him telling me a few hours ago that he was going out and that I should explore Hollywood a bit.

So I got up and had a shower and brushed my teeth and stuff. Then I got ready in a white halter-top and a blue and white flower print skirt.

While I got dressed, I thought about what had happened last night. There was a pit in my stomach and I didn't know why it was there. The longing feeling was still there, although I didn't know why. For some reason I felt nervous and couldn't decide on what to wear.

I had decided on the halter-top and the skirt, but when I saw myself in the mirror, I felt strange. I felt like too much of my skin was showing and I felt exposed and stupid with lipstick on my lips and eye shadow, blush and foundation.

So I washed my face and took off that entire gunk and just put some lip-gloss on. Then I tied my hair high into a ponytail and pulled on a pair of flared pants and a short dress on top. The dress was short enough to be a long top and I looked sophisticated without feeling embarrassed or naked.

So I grabbed my purse and went out.

Draco had said that I should explore the city a bit, so that's what I did. I walked into a couple of shops and saw hordes of famous people in them and walking around.

Well, I'm sure half of the people I thought were famous weren't even famous; except that all the people in Hollywood looked so glamorous and famous-looking that I couldn't tell.

I walked into a couple of clothing shops and saw some great new styles that I had just worn on the cover of Vogue and stuff.

Several people in the stores recognized me and asked for my autograph. I was so annoyed though that I couldn't even spend a few hours on my own, so I ducked into a bookshop.

As soon as I stepped into it, I felt a feeling that I thought I had forgotten. The bookshop was fashioned as an old Victorian library with long ladders going up to the books and coffee tables and armchairs to sit and read.

When I laid my eyes on all the books, I felt overwhelmingly happy. I had forgotten what it had been like to be around so many books and not know which one to read.

My eyes widened when I saw some titles that I had been looking for ages and some that I had never heard of, but couldn't wait to read.

Eagerly, I climbed one of the ladders and grabbed an old copy of Beauty and the Beast. When I had been younger, it had been my favourite fairy tale that my mother used to read aloud to me.

Just thinking of my mother brought tears to my eyes. I missed my parents. Who knew when I would see them again?

As I was climbing down the ladder, my heel caught on the last wrung of the ladder and I almost slipped, except I caught myself in time.

"Careful," came a voice behind me.

I looked behind me and saw a young woman standing there, who was probably an employee. Her name tag said Gina.

"Thanks. Stupid shoes," I said, straightening up, not believing my eyes when I looked at her. She had brown eyes and reddish-orange hair just like Ginny!

"I hate heels too," she said. "That's why I always wear these." She pointed to her sneakers and laughed. "I can't stand heels."

I laughed as well. She sounded and acted like Ginny as well!

Suddenly I missed Ginny so very much. She was my best friend and sole confidante. I really wanted to see her again.

"Can I help you with anything?" she asked.

"No, that's all right," I said. "I would just like to buy this."

She took the book from me and said, "Follow me." She led me to the cashier and then said, "$15.00 please."

I handed her my Visa and she swiped it through. After I had paid, I left that store, but I soon found out that I had broken my heel when I had slipped.

I could hardly walk in my broken shoe and I didn't know what to do. I looked around me. There were lots of people coming and going to shops, which lined the whole street.

I felt for my wand but then I realised that I couldn't use it because Draco had cautioned me that when we went out, we should always hide our wands. Since I always wore sleeveless dresses and tops, I could never hide my wand and usually left it at the hotel. And even if I had it with me, I couldn't use it because there were so many people about.

I really wished I was back with witches and wizards so that I could do magic again. I hadn't realised it, but I hadn't used my magic in such a long time.

So I decided to just buy a new pair of shoes, since there was a shoe shop across the street.

I hobbled across the street and entered the shop. Within a few minutes, several attendants were attending to me, with heaps and heaps of shoes for me to choose from.

As I looked at all the shoes and discarded a few, I saw a girl looking at me peculiarly, who also had loads of shoes and attendants around her. She had blond hair and hazel eyes.

I quickly looked away, so she wouldn't think I was staring at her and quickly picked a pair of shoes, flip-flops. Even when I wasn't famous and rich, I loved flip-flops because they were comfy and you could match them with any outfit.

I stood at the cashier to pay for my flip flops, which were 28 pounds, which was $50 converted. I was outraged when I learned this, because there was no reason they should have been that expensive. Back in London, you could get beautiful flip-flops with glitter and butterfly designs for only 5 pounds, which is $10. But these flip-flops were very simple and only black and were 28 pounds.

But since I was desperate, I bought them anyways.

As I got ready to leave, the girl who had been looking at me came up to me and said, "Hey. Are you 'Mione?"

Oh no. Someone else who recognized me.

"Yes, I am," I answered wearily.

"Hey, I'm Hilary Duff and I just want to thank you so much for giving that bitch Lindsay what she deserved," she said, smiling at me.

"Excuse me?" I said. "You...don't like her?"

"Oh right, you're British," she said. "Yeah, the whole world knows how much I hate her. We don't get along, but really, what you did to her was great. Should teach her to keep her mouth shut."

"Oh well...you're welcome," I said.

"And here, here's something for you," she said, handing me $150 gift certificate. "I promised myself that if I ever met you, I would personally thank you for slapping her."

"Oh wow," I said, not believing what was happening. "Thank you so much."

"No, thank you," she said, winking at me and then leaving.

As I stowed the coupon away in my purse, I could believe that someone didn't hate me for slapping Lindsay Lohan.

With a smile on my face, I also left the store. As I was walking down the street, pausing here and there looking at things, I saw a magazine stand and I paused to take a look, since I was on the cover of a lot of them.

I had already looked at some of them, but there were a few that I hadn't seen that featured things about me.

About five of them featured a picture of me slapping Lindsay and they all had little blurbs about what happened and what other stars thought.

Almost all the stars that were interviewed said that they thought what I had done was great! I almost laughed aloud when I read that. They all said that they thought it was time for Lindsay to shut up and stop acting like she was the queen and that they laughed and cheered me on when I slapped her, because everyone had wanted to do it for a long time.

Ha! I wanted to tell Draco. See, something good came out of it.

As I was standing there laughing to myself, a little boy came up to me with black, messy hair and green eyes. He looked like Harry when I had first met him in First year.

"Hi," he said.

"Hello," I said.

He held up a box to me. "Would you like to buy some chocolates for my school's fundraiser? My aunt says I'm not supposed to ask strangers, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her, huh?" He even talked like Harry!

I laughed. "Of course not. What's your name?"

"Henry," he answered. "Don't tell my aunt ok?"

"Of course I won't, Henry," I said. "Here you are." I reached into my purse to get some money out, but saw that it was all pounds.

"Cool. What's that?" he asked me, looking into my hand.

"I'm sorry I don't have any American money," I said. "Will this do?" I handed him a whole bunch of pounds.

For some reason, he didn't look at all fazed by the heaps of gold coins I had in my hand. He looked like he had seen that much money before. "Sure, my teacher did say that she would go to the bank and make a cheque anyways. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," I said and watched him walk away. Oh, I missed Harry. He was my best friend when we were all growing up, but when we graduated from Hogwarts we kind of drifted apart but I still missed him.

Since I was tired from this morning, I decided to head back to the hotel. When I entered my room, I saw that Draco was already there.

"Where did you go?" I asked him, feeling nervous, apart from the uneasiness that had been there for quite some time now.

"Just to finalise some things for your shoot tonight," he said. Since most of my shoots had been in the daytime and daylight, this shoot was going to be at night on the beach that featured the Golden gate Bridge outside.

"Oh," I said. I guess nothing was going to happen between us.

"You'd better get ready soon," he said. "Because your shoot is a seven o'clock and at 11 is our flight to Florida."

It was only 4 o'clock, but I could see what he meant about getting ready, because it always took a really long time to set up at the shoots.

I nodded and picked out some clothes to wear and went and got changed in the bathroom.

After that, we made our way to the beach where the shoot would be and then I got ready, while the equipment people set out the lights and equipment.

Half of my shoot would be in this small house near the beach; on the veranda and around the palm trees and then the other half would be at night, actually on the beach and standing so that the lights of the Golden gate bridge would shine in the background.

While I got ready, I thought about why Draco was being so distant. It was so strange to think that twenty-four hours ago we had been so intimate with one another and now he wouldn't even talk to me or even look at me.

But I concentrated on my work. The clothes that were part of the collection I was modeling were see-through ish and were skirts and dresses that were revealing and short and tight.

As I modeled them, I felt strange again. By again, I mean strange as in I felt for the first time I had modeled in my life. Except this strange wasn't because I wasn't confident in myself and felt embarrassed, but I was totally in control of myself and felt confident in what I was doing. But I felt strange as in that I was remembering my years at Hogwarts and the dreams I had seen for myself.

I always saw myself as becoming something more prestigious and more useful to other people. Something that would stimulate my mind and would make the world a better place.

I felt strange, as if I was watching myself away from myself, as if I was floating above. I saw myself lying on the beach, with the sand in my hair, my dress's neckline plunging very low, and saying "I wonder what happened to her." If someone had told me that I would become a model 'when I grew up' I would never believe them.

I finished the day shots and then went on to do the night shot, with the bridge behind me.

Soon we were done, and were being driven to the airport in a rush, because our flight left in forty-five minutes.

We reached there on time and got on board, exhausted but pleased.

I didn't feel satisfied though. I really wished that I could enjoy the places where I was staying. I still didn't feel like I had been to any of the places I had visited.

We reached Orlando, Florida in 4 hours, when it was 3 o'clock there in the afternoon.

I didn't get any time to rest, because soon I was rushed to another beach where I would be modeling beachwear.

I only found this out when we reached there: in the trailer when a woman held up a skimpy yellow polka dot bikini for me to wear. I flat out refused, not believing that Draco hadn't told me.

I hadn't dressed so skimpy in front of anyone before. Even when Ron and I made out, we had never gone too far. And I had never worn a two-piece bathing suit in my entire life. Whenever I went to the beach with Gin, Harry and Ron, I always wore a one piece with a little wrap around, covering my legs, although Ginny chided me many times to show more skin, I never did.

"If I haven't changed for my best friend, why would I change for you?" I asked the woman who was forcing me to wear it.

She looked exhausted and then just left, and a few minutes later Draco came in and asked, "What's the problem?"

Twenty minutes later, I was standing on the beach wearing the stupid bikini. I couldn't have felt more dirty and disgusting if I had rolled around in a mud puddle naked and everyone was looking at me.

I gave Draco a dirty look and then I looked away, while I got ready to pose.

The makeup artist said she loved my hair, while fixing it up after doing a couple of shots and having it tangled up. The black was almost all gone and it was mostly dark brown. She said it looked gorgeous.

After my shoot, I put my clothes on, a pair of long Capris and a t-shirt and sat in the sun, reading a book next to the shore, while everyone packed up. I was trying to read, but the thing was that I could concentrate, because I was so mad and embarrassed.

"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry," said Draco taking a seat beside me, taking my hand. For once, he wasn't wearing a suit, but was wearing just a collar short with dark jeans.

I ignored him, taking my hand out of his and continuing to read my book.

"I know you don't believe me, but I really had no choice. Sometimes for the media, you have to change yourself a bit, even though you don't want to," he said. "I hope you'll forgive me."

I refused to look at him and continued to read. He got up from beside me and started to walk away, but then stopped and then said, "By the way, you've been reading that page for half an hour."

I looked up at him in surprise and saw him grinning. "So what? I might be a slow reader."

He shrugged, still smiling, and just walked away.

I stared after him and then turned to read the sentence where my finger had been on for fifteen minutes.

It read, And so beauty looked at the beast's face and felt love of a different kind.