So Long Sweet Summer

Chapter Five

The Good Race

It had been almost a week since he had least seen Hermione. 'Well, that's a lie,' he told himself as he lay in bed one night contemplating it. He had seen her, but never actually talked to her since that day in the lake. He had watched her from his balcony as she ran across the front of the Malfoy property everyday. He also saw her out swimming laps across the lake a few times.

The first time he saw her swimming, he had been wandering along the path by the water. Draco had stopped at the same small beach that he had swum from a few days earlier. Hearing the splashing of the water, he looked out to see her coming towards him. She had been almost at his feet in the knee-deep water when she finally stopped. Looking up to see him standing over her, Hermione had pushed herself up to face Draco. Water cascading down her body and her heavy hair weighed down and frizz free, she looked almost pretty to him.

Hermione had fixed him with a questioning look. "Malfoy?" she whispered softly.

He had been openly gaping at her. His mouth was opened slightly, and he was about to say something when he thought better of it. Instead Draco had turned on his heel and walked away from her back up to the Manor.

Since that day he had observed her from the safety of the balcony. He didn't quite understand why, but she made her way into his thoughts often. Maybe it was because he suspected that he had turned down Blaise's invitation partly because of her. But he told himself he was being silly - he just wanted to spend his last summer vacation at home, what did Granger have to do with it? As a matter of fact, her being there was a downside to staying home. But he couldn't help thinking of a few of the comments she made, like the accusation of him having no friends, to her being proud of her Muggle background. He knew the former was just an insult, but it had hurt because it was true. And why was she so hard to provoke now? Something had changed in Hermione since the end of their sixth year. Even on the train ride home, it only took one insult to the Golden Trio to get her to fight back. Now she would just shake her head, roll her eyes, or laugh at him. It's like her heart wasn't in her efforts of being nasty. The fire that he could see behind her eyes when she got angry seemed to fade seconds after it appeared. What had changed?

He also couldn't get over the feeling she had been trying to seduce him. The whispers in his ear, the looks she gave him at the lake. And it was almost beginning to work. The memory of her standing in front of him back at her cottage in just her bathing suit and the picture of her drenched from her swim haunted him.

With the memory of her dripping figure and questioning look that left him speechless in his mind, Draco fell into a deep sleep.

***

"And now to present to you, your Valedictorian, Draco Malfoy!" Professor Dumbledore boomed out.

Smugly Draco stood up from his seat behind and to the left of the podium. The cheering of the students and parents in front of him caused him to smirk. Looking down over the podium he could clearly see Hermione Granger sitting between the rest of the Wonder Trio. He almost smiled looking at her, knowing that here he was, top of the class, and there she sat, finally second to him. But then he saw the tear-stained cheeks, and the fleeting moment of joy passed.

He felt as if it wasn't worth it, being up here. Somehow he knew that he had done something to cause her to lose this title - something horrible. She should be the one getting this award. Even if he had managed to snag top student this final year, it most likely wasn't the fair way. And she had outsmarted him the remaining six years of their schooling. Yes, she should be the one up here.

The crowd continued to clap and applaud him. He cleared his throat, ready to begin his speech, ready to denounce the title, but they wouldn't stop cheering. He tried again, louder this time, but to no avail. The crowd just would stop. He looked about frantically at his teachers, but they too were clapping along. Would they ever stop...?

Draco's eyelids flickered before they flew wide open. 'Was I really going to give up being Valedictorian to Granger?' he thought in disgust. That cheering though, why wouldn't it stop? Then he heard it out in the distance. The yells and screams and clapping of people across the lake.

Wrenching open his bed hangings in a frenzy, he practically ran out onto his balcony. Crowds of people were gathered on the opposite side of the lake, a few hundred metres down from the Manor. In the middle of the lake the tiny figures of hundreds of swimmers could be seen. Most of them were in a large group in the middle, but a few had moved up to the lead and some stragglers were falling behind as well. 'It's that tri-thing-a-ma-jig,' Draco realised. Without a second thought, Draco headed back into his room and dressed quickly. Not wanting to stand out in the crowd, he pulled on a freshly pressed white tee-shirt and black jeans.

He strode quickly across the grounds towards the point where the swimmers were exiting the water. He saw countless bicycles set up just down from the beach. Shorts, shoes, helmets, and water all hanging off of it. Muggles were streaming out of the water and running towards their bikes. Behind a steel partition was a small crowd of spectators cheering on the athletes. Draco picked up his pace, and pushed his way through the crowd to the front. He scanned the swimmers that were making their way towards the bicycle racks. Where was Hermione? He looked about frantically until realising that the last person had left the water and cycled away, and guards were taking down the barrier.

The people surrounding him were beginning to walk quickly along the path the cyclists had just disappeared off along. He turned to an older man that was passing him.

"Where is everyone going?" Draco asked.

The man looked at him as if Draco was growing a second head. "To the finish line of course, Boy!"

Draco scrunched his face up in thought. "But if they are ahead of us," he thought out loud, "won't we arrive there too late?"

"You silly boy," the man exclaimed in exasperation. "They still have a twenty kilometre bike and a two kilometre run, the leaders won't even begin getting in for another half-an-hour."

"Oh," Draco mumbled. He mentally reprimanded himself for not remembering what Hermione had told him about the race. He continued to walk along beside the man. "Err - so who are the favourites to win this thing?" he asked.

The man looked at him and shook his head. "This is a small town, small race. There really aren't any favourites, or elite athletes here. Although, some have been talking about a city girl - probably from London - who has been out training everyday since she arrived."

Draco nodded his head. "Could that be...' he wondered. 'No way that could be Granger - could it?' he thought.

The two of them had reached the finish line, and the man walked off without a backwards glance at Draco. Draco found a place behind more metal barriers, just a few metres from the finish line. People swarmed around him, pushing his body against the cool metal. Spectators had lines the street coming into the main square of the small town, following the path that the runners would be taking.

A young woman beside him had an electronic gadget pressed up against her ear. It looked similar to the telephone Granger had in her cottage.

"Dad says she's running now!" the girl exclaimed excitedly to her sister beside her. "He says she is about fifty people back."

Suddenly cheers began to erupt from the crowd further down the road. Runners began to appear in clumps of two or three making their way through the town. As they lay eyes on the finish line many pushed themselves to sprint and came streaming through the gate. He had barely enough time to register the twenty-something year old male that won the race when he spotted her turning the corner.

Even though she was still quite a way away from him, he could see her face light up at the sight of the finish. Hermione looked absolutely exhausted, sweat covering her flushed face. The small black running shorts that she wore over her one piece bathing suit were plastered to her legs. As she got closer he began to clap along with the crowd.

"Come on, Granger!" he yelled as she passed. 'What am I doing?' he wondered turning beet red in mortification. Draco watched as she looked over, and upon seeing him standing there, gave him a questioning look. But it was fleeting, and the next thing he knew Hermione gave him a grateful grin and pushed harder, picking up the pace. He saw her practically fly across the line.

Draco pushed himself away from the street and through the Muggles thronging about. Around the finishing area were more barricades, keeping out everyone but race volunteers and the athletes. He finally found the exit where family and friends were waiting for their loved ones to come out. Draco spied Hermione, medal around her neck and bottle of water in hand. A male volunteer ran up to her and wrapped an unusually large piece of aluminium-foil around her shoulders. 'What in the world...' Draco thought confused.

She was exiting the finishing area when she spotted him waiting outside. Her face was still flushed, but she was grinning like mad. Draco couldn't help but smile with her - it was infectious. Without thinking her ran over to her and scooped up her small body in a hug, swinging her about.

At first Hermione hugged him back, but suddenly she went rigid in his arms. That was when the reality of the situation hit him as well. He froze, and set her back down on the ground. Still shocked from his sudden actions, he thrust out a hand towards her.

As she tentatively shook it he said, "Good race, Granger."

If it was possible she went even redder as a blush added to her flushed face. "Thanks, Malfoy," she said quietly.

He looked her up and down. "You do realise you're wearing aluminium-foil?"

She laughed whole-heartedly at him. "They give it to everyone - it helps keep the heat in after a race so you don't get chilled and sick."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her. "Right..." he said slowly. He toyed around slightly with the ribbon attached to the medal around her neck. "You didn't win the race, Granger, why do you have a medal?"

"It's a participation medal you buffoon," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "Everyone gets one. But for your information I came in second in my age category, so I will be getting a medal."

"Not first place than, Granger? Shouldn't you be bawling your eyes out at the thought of not being top?" Draco remarked sarcastically.

This comment got Hermione huffed up in annoyance. "This was my first triathlon Malfoy. I didn't even expect to place in the top-ten, let alone second."

"Well congratulations," he said nastily.

She sighed. "Malfoy, why are you even here?"

"Well, Granger," he started, "one day just under eighteen years ago, my parents decided to commit the dirty deed, to consummate their love, to shag - whatever you wish to call it. Then, nine months later I was born. Are you following me?" he asked with a smirk.

"You know what I mean, Malfoy," she said in annoyance. "Why are you here at the race - why were you cheering me on?"

"What am I not allowed to do a good deed?" he replied his hand held over his heart in mock despair. "God knows Potty and the Weasel would have done the same thing. Wait," he said, thinking about the comment he just made, "why aren't the other two other members of the Golden Trio here?"

Her eyes flitted to the ground, and she wouldn't look up at him. "They don't even know that I run, let alone was participating in a race."

"But why?" he asked confused as to the reason of her secrecy.

Hermione looked up at him, a familiar fire flickering behind her mahogany orbs. "Tell me, Malfoy, didn't you ever wonder why I decided not to spend the summer with them? Why I choose instead to come and live up here in a Muggle alone?"

Draco's brow furrowed as he thought her question over. "Well because you wanted to run this tri-thing."

"But why couldn't I have trained down there, then come up here for the day of the race?" she asked simply.

"Err..." for once Draco was at a loss for words.

She was getting thoroughly miffed - that Draco could tell. But for the first time he couldn't think of any nasty remark her had said that could have set her off.

Hermione took a step towards him, poking him soundly in the chest. "I'll tell you why, Malfoy," she spat at him. "Because would rather spend their summer with those girlfriends of theirs, because they don't need me around in the summer, because right now there is no homework due, no tests to study for, because I wasn't even invited."

Draco looked back at the girl in shock. "But - but you said the first day we talked that if you had known I lived her you would have taken Weasley up on his invitation to spend the summer at his home."

She laughed sadly. "Well I suppose I should take that back then. He did invite me - after his mother told him too."

They suddenly heard shouts from behind them.

"Hermione!" yelled an older woman and man. They waved their arms about like mad trying to get her attention.

"Those are my parents," she said softly. Giving him a sad smile Hermione turned around and made her way towards the happy couple. He watched as they enveloped her with congratulatory hugs before he himself turned around and disappeared off into the crowd.