Upside Down

Ah ha! I have just turned the tables on real life and now I'm the one holding the whip! You've been naughty, real life, and now I'm going to stripe your arse like a Zebra's! Whoo! Oh...sorry...got a little carried away there...

ANyway...my muse decided to come back for a little while. And I think you guys are going to like this chappie....it's not lemony....but it's still all gravy, baby!


Draco plopped himself down on Hermione’s sofa.

“So…you’ve saved me until five. What can we do?” He asked, still smoothing his hair self consciously.

“Let’s go see a movie…” Ruby suggested. Hermione looked at Draco, who looked slightly uncertain.

“I don’t know…I’ve never been to a movie before…” he said. Hermione grinned.

“All the more reason for you to go. I’ve still got some of your Muggle clothes here if you need to change. We can grab something to eat afterwards…” she said. Draco nodded, and then stood and sauntered to the bedroom his family had been in not but a few days prior.

He emerged in a t-shirt and jeans, both of which clung to all the right places in all the right ways. Ruby whistled appreciatively.

“I’ll give you British boys one thing….you got nice butts.” She said, giving Draco’s bottom a playful whack as he passed her. He yelped, and jumped away from her, quickly hiding behind Hermione.

“Your cousin just molested me!” he whispered. Hermione laughed, and pulled him out from behind her.

“She’s just a physical person….she meant nothing by it. Now c’mon! If we want to get you back on time we need to leave now.” She said.

Fortunately for Hermione, where her Muggle flat was located was just a medium-length walk from some restaurants and a movie theater. They stood outside the theater for a moment, debating amongst each other on what movie they should see. Hermione bought some popcorn and sodas, while Ruby regaled them with a story of her friends when they used to go to the movies.

“We’d buy one large popcorn, and one large drink, because you could get refills. And we’d all have a different color straw….and we’d share….” She said. Draco’s nose wrinkled.

“Yumm…..backwash…” he said, and then shuddered. He had never shared a drink with anyone, not even one of his parents, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to start now.

The movie was a rather cutesie thing, about a small fish who had gotten lost and his father’s adventure while he tried to find him. Draco found this whole CGI thing fascinating. The colors were so vibrant….and the fish looked so damn real that he had actually jumped a few times when the sharks popped up.

When the movie was over, they all stood and stretched, none of them having moved during the entire movie.

“Oh Merlin….I drank too much!” Hermione said, and made a beeline for the nearest bathroom. Draco and Ruby waited patiently for Hermione. A minute or so later, she walked out, a relieved look on her face. “Loo’s free.”

“Who’s Lou?” Ruby asked. Draco and Hermione chuckled at her, and then they crossed the street to the restaurant. Draco led them into one of the fancier looking restaurant.

“Draco…I thought we might have something more….simple…” Hermione said.

“I don’t do simple unless I know who’s making it. When I eat out I want to make sure I know what’s going into my food.” He said, and straightened his clothes, going into aristocrat mode. Ruby raised an eyebrow at the change in both his face and body. They were eyed by a waiter who probably thought they couldn’t afford the meal, but he was fair and said nothing about their plain clothing. Besides…sometimes rich people liked to… ‘dress-down’ and he would certainly lose his job if he offended the wrong person.

The waiter led them to a booth next to a small indoor garden, the pleasant smell of flowers met them when they sat. Ruby inhaled deeply.

“Smells almost like home.” She said softly.

They ordered their meals, and Draco and Hermione ordered a bit of wine to go with their food. Ruby had water with lemon.

They talked while they ate, mostly Draco asking Ruby more about life in America, and what her role on the farm was.

“Well, I could milk cows and such, but I wasn’t really a physical laborer. With my small size those feed bags would have damaged my back and shoulders. I would patch clothes for the workers and make them like new. Nobody knew I was a witch except my mom and dad.” She said. Draco nodded, and cut himself another bite of steak. They were silent for a few minutes.

“Well I do declare! Is that little Ruby Grangeford?” said an annoyingly high voice behind them. The voice was American, but the accent was softer than Ruby’s. It sounded….snooty.

Ruby stiffened, and a very clear ‘I don’t want to talk’ expression crossed her face. She then plastered a smile on her face and stood.

A bleached blonde girl, a little older than Ruby, walked up to the petit American and hugged her. It was a stiff hug, not at all like Ruby gave when she hugged Hermione. This was a fake.

“I haven’t seen you since…how long has it been?” the girl asked.

“Graduation.” Ruby said flatly. The girl noticed Hermione and Draco, and flashed Draco a chemically whitened smile.

“Why don’t you introduce me to your…friend?” she asked. Draco suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Hermione wondered at the pang of jealousy that went through her.

Ruby turned back to her party, and pointed to Hermione. “This is my cousin, Hermione Granger. I’ve been staying with her since my dad’s accident.” She said.

“Oh! I heard about that. What a shame. And the guy?” Ruby looked ready to blow at having her father’s death brushed off so nonchalantly.

“Draco Malfoy.” She ground out. The girl raised a not-blonde eyebrow, and smiled again.

“A Malfoy, eh? I’m Betty Jean LeFay.” She said, holding out her hand for Draco to accept. Draco kept an unreadable expression on his face, and looked at her hand. He looked back at her face, and then turned to his food. A grin formed on Ruby’s lips.

“Oooh. Somebody get the ointment ‘cause you got burned.” she said. Betty Jean looked at Ruby harshly.

“Shut up, you second-rate magical redneck farm-whore!” she snapped. Ruby’s grin faded immediately, and she looked crushed. She lowered her head and eyes. Betty Jean looked victorious for only a moment, but she saw the flash in Draco’s eyes when he stood, and she looked a bit frightened. She hadn’t heard much of the war, but she was an American Pureblood, and had roots in Europe. She had heard of the Malfoy family, and was well aware of their…tendencies.

Draco didn’t understand the word ‘redneck,’ but by the look on Ruby’s face it didn’t mean anything good.

“You’ll apologize to my friend, Miss LeFay, or you’ll find out just how loyal the Malfoys can be.” He said softly. Betty Jean sputtered a protest.

“I most certainly will not apologize to…to that!” she said, and pointed a rather short finger at Ruby. “Thinks she can rise in ranks just with book smarts! She needs to learn her place in the world! I can trace my roots back to the very first LeFay! All she can speak of is a filthy Muggle farm-hand father and a whore-witch of a mother!” Betty Jean snapped.

Before either Hermione or Draco could latch onto Ruby she had launched herself at Betty Jean. She tackled her, knocking her back and into a table of desserts. The table flipped, throwing plates of mousse and fudge through the air. Draco was slapped in the face by a chocolate pie with whipped cream.

Three waiters had to physically pry Ruby away from the wailing Betty Jean. And when the three were preoccupied trying to calm the now-bloody girl, Draco took Hermione and Ruby by the arm and promptly led them out of the restaurant, getting strange stares from people on the street. He walked them back to Hermione’s flat, grimacing at the feel of whipped cream drying on his face. He would have scourgified himself, but he hadn’t the place nor the time to do it.

As they crossed the threshold of Hermione’s flat, Ruby burst into tears. She had been shaking with fury and hurt the entire walk, and now it finally shifted to sorrow. Draco drew his wand, and quickly cleaned himself off. Hermione looked slightly panicked. She hadn’t seen Ruby so emotional since the first night she had been there. Draco looked a bit uneasy as well. Even as a Death Eater he couldn’t take the wailing of a woman. It was a sad sound.

Ruby finally wrapped her arms around Draco, and buried her face in his chest. Draco stood awkwardly for a moment, before stiffly patting her back. He had no earthly idea what to do…

Hermione looked at the two.

“It’s all right, Ruby. I’ll go make some hot cocoa and you can tell us what’s wrong…” she said softly. Ruby nodded against Draco, and Hermione rushed off to the kitchen.

When she returned, she found Draco and Ruby on the sofa. Ruby’s wailing had subsided, and she was now sniffling softly. Draco had wrapped her in a blanket and she was snuggled against his side, her hands fisted in his cotton shirt. She sat up when Hermione handed her the warm cup of hot chocolate, and sank back against the back cushions of the sofa.

“Now. Who was that girl?” Hermione said, and sat down on the other side of Ruby.

“Betty Jean LeFay. She graduated with me, but she was the right age. She was smart, but not as smart as me, and it ticked her off to no end that somebody younger than her could beat her. She’s a Pureblood, and thinks herself better because of it. She also comes from a family that’s well off, and looked down on me because my father worked on a farm. She’s just so…stuck up.” Ruby said softly.

“What’s she doing over here?” Draco asked.

“Oh…her family comes over here every summer. They have a place over here that they visit, and she would tell everyone about each trip all year until the next year, and then she’d regale us with the newest trip the next year. She’s quite a chatterbox when she’s talkin’ about herself.” She explained. The three sat in silence for a little while, Ruby sipping on her cocoa.

The girl she had just described reminded Draco of himself, and it disturbed him. Had he really been like that? The horrible truth was…yes….he had been exactly like that. Ruby had been Betty Jean’s Hermione…

Ruby finally stood, and handed her mug back to Hermione.

“I’m gonna go take a nap.” She said, her voice soft. Hermione nodded.

“All right. I’ll wake you before we take Draco back to Grimmauld Place.” Hermione replied. Ruby grunted in response, and shuffled into her bedroom, and shut the door with a pathetic click. Hermione sighed.

“Poor girl. That Betty Jean was a nasty piece of work.” Hermione said, a hint of anger seeping into her voice. Draco nodded.

“Yeah.” He said softly. Hermione looked over at him.

“Thanks for taking up for Ruby. I know that means a lot to her, and it certainly means a lot to me.” She said. Draco looked up, and gave a genuine smile.

“I kinda like the little Yank. She’s funny.” He said. Hermione nodded.

“You’ve been very nice to her, Malfoy-”

“Draco.” He interrupted. “Call me Draco.”

“You’ve been very nice to her….Draco…” Hermione started. She liked the way his name rolled off of her tongue. It felt almost….natural. “You’ve been very nice to me, too. I just wanted to thank you.” She said.

“How would you like to thank me?” he blurted. He cursed inwardly at the stupid comment. She’d probably think he was being nice to try and get into her knickers.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know….how would you like me to thank you? I do, however, reserve the right to….modify or….refuse any means that you may list…” she said. Draco’s grin widened.

“How about a kiss?” he asked, scooting closer to her. She looked surprised for a moment. She was surprised that Draco Malfoy, self-proclaimed Sex God of Slytherin would want to kiss her…the little Gryffindor Prude. The last man she’d kissed was Ron. Oh Merlin! The last man she’d kissed was Ron!

She grinned at him.

“Sure.” She said softly. He leaned forward, and pressed his lips softly against hers. Hermione felt a shiver go through her entire body at the contact. He kissed with such tenderness. Ron had never kissed like that. He’d practically drowned her with drool and bitten her a few times before he expected her to roll over and play dead like a good little whore or something. But this….this was bloody fantastic!

Draco felt a stirring in his loins when his lips pressed against Hermione’s soft ones. She tasted so good. He could still taste the wine that she’d had for lunch, and it was fantastic. He nearly creamed his pants like a little fourth year when she responded to the kiss. He had just been expecting a quick peck as a reward for being a ‘good boy.’ He hadn’t expected this to melt into a full-blown snog session. Not that he was complaining, mind you…

Hermione shivered again when his tongue tentatively tickled her lips, asking for permission. She opened a bit wider, and almost groaned when she felt his tongue swipe into her mouth.

They kissed for a good five minutes before they finally pulled away, both very pleased and pleasantly bubbly inside from the unexpected chemistry.

“That was….” She started.

“Bloody fantastic…” he finished for her, reaching up to tuck a stray curl behind her ears. She blushed softly.

“You’re a fantastic kisser, Mal- …er…Draco.” She said softly.

“And you’re very responsive, Hermione.” He said. She felt a tingle go up her spine when he used her given name.

“Maybe we could do it again? Except because we want to…not because I owe you anything…” Hermione said, rather hopefully. Draco grinned, and leaned back towards her, his eyes flashing.

“I thought you’d never ask…”
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Oooh. Some lip action going on....

Come on....that had to get a review. Draco said if you'll all review he promises his great Slytherin basilisk will make an appearance (Maybe not have a hiding place, though. Gotta take it slow...)

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